Sunnyside and other stories

A parade of boys on bicycles greets me as I pull up to the cottage, circling round my car like seagulls swarming the latest visitor to the beach. In the distance is their leader, the tallest of the bunch, who raises a hand up to greet me.

After hugs and hellos we prioritize a beer run, head into Winnipeg Beach to buy a silver beer bucket to sit in afternoon sand. Lie out a blanket and let the afternoon roast into warm fuzz at the bottom of our pilsners, shallow shores and sunburn.

Curry come dinner, all apple slices and sweet potato. Vodka espresso evening; sit round a table of rainbow chairs and a bonfire. Drink till it becomes a good idea to pull guitars out, shout mindless absinthe lyrics and strum the g chord.

Drop shorts and hurtle self off the blue-lit late night pier, crash into the blackness. Rinse, repeat, and howl at the moonlight. Stare into dead darkness, bush and endless water. See only a blank canvas that will not be empty, ever.