The Jackalope
Last week, I was pleased to see a short story that I have either been working on or shopping around for years finally debuted, thanks to the fine folks at Bandit Fiction.
“The Jackalope” is a piece inspired by the jackrabbits that call the Inkster Industrial Park, where the Canstar office and Free Press building are located, home. Anytime I’d catch a glimpse of these elusive beasts, on the way in or out of the office or during a mid-day stroll, it would give me a thrill.
He’d been eating his lunch on the loading dock of the mattress factory where he worked. Once he’d cleared his windpipe and caught his breath, Tony hopped down and took a step towards the chain link fence that separated the mattress factory from the grassy knoll in front of the neighbouring potato chip plant. He blinked his eyes, squinted against the glare of the sun. The rabbit-thing was still there, soaking up the sun, crisp April breeze ruffling its ruddy-brown fur.
The piece came close to landing at a few spots, but ultimately it took until late last year for the editors at Bandit Fiction to give me the good news that they felt it was a fit. So thanks, again, to those editors. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it!