Fins, Teeth, and Broken Surfboards
opening excerpt
Mona is my self-proclaimed therapist, who I know will take everything I say to her and twist it into being all about her. She’ll continue to talk about it at every family gathering for as long as she lives. We have no secrets between us.
I think about what to tell her and what to leave out. Pressing my shoulders into the back of the Adirondack chair, I inhale the aroma of barbequed shrimp as the rays of sunlight burn the eyebrows right off my face. The scorching temperature at Sauble Beach is well over thirty degrees Celsius, and I find it hard to believe my mother still wants to have lunch, beachside, at high noon.
Mona drops a large bag near my feet. “It works for most people. Maybe not you, because you’re stubborn like your grandmother. That’s your father’s mother, not mine.”
“What is it?” I peek inside. Fluffy, grey fleece. It makes me sweat just looking at it. There’s no way I want warm and fuzzy around me in the middle of this heatwave.
“It’s a weighted blanket. Your father left it behind when he moved out of my house and in with the mermaid. He said it would help with my anger issues. I’m sure he doesn’t need it now that the mermaid takes care of his anxiety with her—” Mona lifts her fist to her mouth, and fakes a small cough. “Nevermind.”
Now, I’m trying hard not to visualize the mermaid and my father. The fleece is soft and reminds me of a newborn kitten, but much heavier. “This must weigh a hundred pounds.”
“Thirty-five. It’s hard to get used to having that much weight draped over you while you’re trying to sleep, but once you do, you won’t sleep without it. It’s therapeutic, like a giant hug from Theo.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” I roll my eyes. “I need to forget those last three years ever happened.”
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