J.G. Chayko

I hobbled through the apartment lobby and my mood deflated at the sight of the huge sign on the elevator: OUT OF ORDER. My apartment was on the third floor, an easy walk on a good day – but this was not a good day. My puffy joints burned and shrieked at each movement. I…

I glanced down at my hands, watching a red line march across my puffy knuckles. My feverish fingers rested on the keyboard burning through the keys. I was mesmerized by the rapid swelling; I lifted my arms and gazed at overstuffed marshmallows dangling off the end of my wrists… I woke in the morning, creaky…

He passed through my life in a moment, a fleeting seventy-two hours, like a song lingering in the twilight. I was transported back to the days before the arrival of the old lady; energy flowed through my body, fatigue was only a fictional entity, and I moved with fluidity, like a young stallion racing through…

I stared at myself in the mirror. The bright lights illuminated the bumpy red stranger that materialized in a silent swagger across my upper body. I was mesmerized by the range of his trek. The bumps began behind my ears and spread their way down my torso, over my stomach to my waist. The itchy…

I sat in the chair, my mouth held open with taut synthetic objects wedged between my teeth and gums; the dentist disappeared around the corner to take his annual pictures. The dental assistant tipped me back, removed the offensive articles and began cleaning, the brush noisily whirring in the compact partition. My throbbing knees started…

Irony:  a literary technique in which the audience can perceive hidden meanings unknown to the characters. (Oxford Canadian Dictionary) I sat in the waiting room of my doctor’s office. The tiny space was packed with sniffling patients; the yellow walls replicated the color of their skin. I squirmed in my seat, jamming my elbow into…

Irony:  a discrepancy between the expected and actual state of affairs  (Oxford Canadian Dictionary) The emergency room is chock-full of moaning and wailing patients. I lay on the gurney staring up at the ceiling. The ambulance attendant stays by my side in the crowded corridor until I am admitted to a room. An old woman…

The store was crammed with groceries stacked from floor to ceiling on bulky metal racks. Only one buggy could squeeze into the narrow aisles. It was my first time in this specialty store as it carried those items not found in conventional grocery stores. I bore in mind the words of my doctor scrawled on…

The actors came rushing in for their call time. I was swept up in their exhilaration, and memories of my own time on the stage came swooping in around me. My girlfriend formed her own theatre company and I volunteered to help her with box office on her debut show. I dressed for the occasion,…