THE DISTANCE
a novel by robert craig
The screen door bangs shut behind him. Roy walks out across the back porch. He walks to the edge of the steps and stares. From here to there, it’s all dunes and grass, weathered juniper and scrub brush. The breeze off the land is unseasonably warm. It’s quiet. The afternoon hangs in the heat.
Bruce is still sleeping off his hangover. He’s been in bed since they arrived a few hours ago. Roy's had time to unpack and unload. The tools and lumber on the porch next to the neatly stacked firewood and an empty cooler. He's been doing this for years at the end of every summer season. Repairing the seasoned cottage at the end of the dirt road. A few small repairs over a long weekend.
At the last minute he asked Bruce to join him. But he had been turning the thought over in his mind for weeks. Anxious and unsettled. But now feeling ready.
Down the porch steps. The bottom one is broken. It's on the list. He walks out towards the dunes. The sun is hot. There is no protection. No shade. There is a well worn path that starts and leads him towards the dunes and eventually ends where the view of the ocean begins.
After a couple minutes of walking, he pauses. Looks around and into the distance. He whistles and waits. Soon the dog comes running. Tail wagging. Roy crouches down and the dog barrels into him. Licks his face. Roy rubs his ears.
He stands and turns toward the house. He sees Bruce on the porch. Watching them. A small silhouette against the sun. A figure, a storm.
ABOUT The Distance
A short novel about loss. And being lost. Sometimes we wander aimlessly, anxious to mend our ways and figure out who we are and what really happened. But reality triggers memory and we don't know what to do. We don't know where to turn. Overwhelmed and struggling to cope, if we even know how.
We are a burden to ourselves.
It is an intersection of two grieving men. Roy and Bruce. Written in experimental grammar, it is a collection focused snapshots of everyday details and mediocre moments that we take for granted. And yet these unassuming experiences shape us. We become our choices.
Down the cape for a long weekend of house repairs. And a hurricane surging up the coast takes a different tack and barrels down.
(Available for pre-order soon)