Dashing_Through_The_Snow Jm)Jm) BOOKMOBI l n *p :r Jt Zv jx zz | ~ T # MOBI ( P EXTH / e The Fiction Circus d John Patrick Tormey Dashing Through The Snow j 2009-07-27T04:11:35 l 8calibre (0.5.11) [http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net] i Wfictioncircus johntormey johnpatricktormey dashingthroughthesnow fiction circus Dashing Through The Snow
Dashing Through the Snow
by John Patrick Tormey
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READ BY JOHN PATRICK TORMEY
MUSIC BY MATT CASSAVAUGH
ART BY HEATHER FORDE
The Quinn family trudged up the three flights of stairs to Uncle Terry's apartment. They climbed single-file in order of age from oldest to youngest: Dan and Pattie, Molly, Chris, and then Brendan. All stepped quick to escape the cold December night at their backs. As the family crowded onto the third floor landing, they removed their hats and gloves, put their hands to their mouths and blew hot air on their fingers.
Dan had not worn a hat or gloves and was anxious to get where it was warm, so he knocked on the apartment door. Hearing no response, he waited a minute before giving the doorknob a cautious turn. He took a single, small step into his brother-in-law's apartment. Heat gusted out into the hall. Radiators were whistling.
Dan, still holding the doorknob, scanned the empty living room, hoping their visit had been forgotten and they could go home, when Terry came exploding out of his kitchen, a plate full of holiday desserts balanced in each hand, screaming at the top of his lungs, "You're here!"
Dan jumped back a step.
Terry's pupils were dilated wide as dimes, his skin pale, his teeth grinding, sweat running across his temples, his Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned and baring an emaciated torso. Terry was high and Dan knew it.
Dan almost turned the whole crew around and drove home, ending this Christmas Eve ritual once and for all. But his wife and kids swept him inside, forcing Dan to stay and participate.
Once the Quinns were inside, Terry told the kids and Pattie to sit down, sit down, and slung the two plates full of cookies and brownies onto the coffee table. A cigarette dangled out of his mouth and bobbed up and down as he spoke. Dan opened and closed his fists. He took a deep breath and let it out.
When he leaned down to where Pattie sat on the couch, Dan told his wife that he would be in the kitchen until she was ready to go.
"I want no part of this," he said. "He's your goddamned brother."
Meanwhile, Terry stood in front of the TV, facing his sister and her children, and pointed down at the coffee table full of desserts. "Eat this shit, will ya? It's the fuckin' holidays!"