Journal Article

Flannel Nightmares

Abdou, Angie

2004

Overview

[Joyce] opens the patio door for Ben. Poor kitty, out all night. She goes to the fridge, pouring a saucer of milk as a peace offering. Ben is easily won over and rubs his dewy fur against Joyce's calves, still bare since she has only pulled slippers on under her knee-length nightshirt. Having made amends to Ben, Joyce turns on the pot of coffee, gets the paper from the front door and selects a radio station, some easy-listening on low so as not to wake [Murray]. There. Joyce feels herself coming out of her sleepy gloom and savours the silence of the morning, flipping through the paper to the Arts Section. Really, the book and movie reviews are all that interest her. She knows the other stuff, the \"real\" news, should concern her, especially since she has two grown children attempting to fend in today's world, but ... well...yawn. She'd rather read what the National Post's critics think of Alice Munro's latest short story collection. When the kids left home, [Mike] went all the way to Japan to teach English, and [Jen] was forced to fill the gap in her parents' lives. They called her all too often, daily at least, sometimes more. Murray and Joyce inevitably asked Jen the same stream of questions: \"How are your classes?\" \"How is your dorm?\" \"How are your professors?\" \"Any word from Mike?\" First, Murray would get on the phone making his way through the list and then Joyce would follow with the same inquiries. Murray made a noise, a cross between a laugh and a sob, a sound that scared Joyce. \"You don't know. That's great. Don't know what? Don't know if you want to be my wife anymore? Don't know if you want to keep sleeping with other men? Don't know if you've infected me with some sort of venereal disease? Don't know what, Joyce?\"

• Publisher: University of Windsor