Just J (14 page)

I see Mom's smiling face, her skin pink and perfect. I hear her laugh and feel her arms around me. I'm in the moment, but if time is an illusion, then all that came before and all that comes after, everyone I've ever loved or will love, is here with me. All things happen simultaneously, but like ultraviolet light and the wind, our perceptions are just too limited to see them. All we can do is feel their effect and know that they're there.

“J,” Billy yells.

I straighten up to see what he wants and get hit in the back of the head.

“Agghh!” Connor screams.

“Cool,” Billy says.

C
olin Frizzell is an author, poet and screenwriter who was raised on a farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario. He is a radio broadcasting graduate of Loyalist College of Arts and Technology and has also formally studied television and film and worked on several features. Colin lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife, music director Jordann Zaza, and their cat, Zsu Zsu. He is also the author of
Chill
(Orca).