Circling the Drain

by Don McLellan

About the Author: Don McLellan has worked as a journalist in Canada, South Korea, and Hong Kong. His third collection of short fiction, "Ouch: 20 Stories," was a finalist for the 2021 Whistler Independent Book Award.

Excerpt

It’s a wet and blustery Friday, reason enough to duck into the Bitter End, the tavern known up and down the coast for its musky perfume and warped cedar floors–and, most nights, for a mascot hound named Shaft searching for a leg to hump. Anthony drains his third beer and is signalling for another when the jukebox is disconnected and curious heads swivel to Delmar Schmirler crooning “Danny Boy.” The summer’s gone, and all the roses dying … The barstool he’s hoisted himself upon wobbles precariously.

Reviews are scathing; catcalls urge a serious thrashing. The loudest objection flies from the dentally deficient mouth of the dart-tossing Duke Shantz, who’d been confined to a wheelchair since being pancaked by a carelessly loaded pallet. “Don’t make someone shut that gob for ya, Del!”

The dart tournaments are a nightly event, and fiercely competitive. The winner’s drinks are on the house, sufficient encouragement usually, but especially on this inclement occasion, as Alma Forest Products, the town’s largest employer, has decided to mothball the mill. A glut in the market and a high debt load, say people who know such things.

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