First Things First, page 35
Look at the face of my son sleeping and dreaming of clouds.
Look at the face of your wife sleeping beside you, dreaming of a happy life.
Look at all of us.
Look at what we have done.
She paddles her feet in the puddle and it occurs to her that in the morning their lives will get back to normal. She will take Nicholas to the daycare where they will ask, “How was your little holiday?” and she will say it was wonderful. In the morning she will go back to work and they will ask, “How are you feeling?” and she will say she is fine, just fine.
It occurs to her that as far as it goes, this might be the whole story. As far as it goes, this might be the end, this might be the truth.
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PUBLISHING HISTORY
The date given after the title of each story is the year in which it was written. The publishing history of the stories is as follows:
“The Diary of Glory Maxwell”: The Muskeg Review, Thunder Bay, Ontario, February 1975.
“Body Number 15”: Descant, Toronto, Ontario, August 1976.
“The Climb”: Canadian Fiction Magazine, Vancouver, B.C., April 1976.
“Bright Wire”: Nebula #8: Four New Writers, North Bay, Ontario, April 1979.
“Waiting”: Quarry Magazine, Kingston, Ontario, July 1979; Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“To Whom It May Concern”: Branching Out, Edmonton, Alberta, September 1976.
“An Evening in Two Voices”: Nebula #8: Four New Writers, North Bay, Ontario, April 1979.
“Prophecies”: Harvest, Willowdale, Ontario, December 1979.
“The Gate”: Canadian Author & Bookman, Welland, Ontario, January 1983; Pure Fiction: The Okanagan Short Story Award Winners, ed., Geoff Hancock, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1986; The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990.
“Notes for A Travelogue”: Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“Crimes of Passion”: The Old Dance: Love Stories of One Kind or Another, ed., Bonnie Burnard, Coteau Books, October 1986; Hockey Night in Canada, Quarry Press, 1987; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“Histories”: Matrix, Lennoxville, Quebec, January 1981; Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“First Things First”: Quarry Magazine, Kingston, Ontario, December 1984; Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“The Long Way Home”: Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“What We Want”: CBC Radio, Alberta Anthology, Edmonton, Alberta, excerpt, September 1983; Coming Attractions 2, eds. David Helwig and Sandra Martin, Oberon Press, 1984; Women and Words: The Anthology, Harbour Publishing, excerpt, November 1984; Hockey Night in Canada, Quarry Press, 1987; The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990.
“Life Sentences”: Double Bond: An Anthology of Prairie Women’s Fiction, ed. Caroline Heath, Fifth House, October 1984; Hockey Night in Canada, Quarry Press, 1987; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991; “Condanna A Vita” (Italian) Altre Terre: Raconti Contemporanii Del Canada Anglofono, ed. Branko Gorjup, Supernova, Venice, Italy, 1996.
“True or False”: Frogs and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1986; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991.
“She Wants to Tell Me”: Quarry Magazine, Kingston, Ontario, April 1987; Hockey Night in Canada, Quarry Press, 1987; Hockey Night in Canada and Other Stories, Quarry Press, 1991; The Penguin Anthology of Stories by Canadian Women, ed. Denise Chong, Viking Penguin Canada, November 1997.
“His People”: Prism International, Vancouver, B.C., September 1988; The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990.
“None of the Above”: The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990.
“How Myrna Survives”: The New Quarterly, Waterloo, Ontario, January 1989; The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990; Written In Stone: A Kingston Reader, eds. Mary Alice Downie and M.A. Thompson, excerpt, Quarry Press, October 1993.
“Trick Questions”: The Man of My Dreams, Macmillan of Canada, 1990.
“Love in the Time of Clichés”: 90 Best Canadian Stories, eds. David Helwig and Maggie Helwig, Oberon Press, October 1990; The Second Gates of Paradise: The Anthology of Erotic Short Fiction, ed. Alberto Manguel, Macfarlane Walter & Ross, November 1994.
“As Far As It Goes”: Canadian Fiction Magazine, Toronto, Ontario, October 1991.
Diane Schoemperlen, First Things First
