Sputnik's Children

by Terri Favro

  I’ll turn to look back at the house. Through the studio window, I’ll see Darren talking to Cynthia. Our eyes will meet as I put the helmet on, adjust the chinstrap and climb on the back of the Kawasaki, catching a whiff of cinnamon on the rider’s leathers.

  I’ll notice a flash of copper metal by my leg. A solenoid, welded to the drive train. I’m sitting on an electromagnetic transducer on wheels. This is even better than the Silver Surfer’s intergalactic surfboard.

  Through the window, Darren will look at me, his mouth an O of surprise. Our eyes will meet. I’ll lift one hand. He’ll shake his head. I’ll make a V with my fingers.

  Peace. Live long and prosper. Goodbye.

  The rider will upshift into fourth gear. Then fifth. Crazy Lady Island will turn into a blur.

  * * *

  Or none of this will happen. Maybe the rider will pass me by.

  * * *

  I stand, looking out at the road, at the sky, at the white blur of the bike, at my lover on his smartphone in the window of the house, and wait to see what happens next.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My thanks to Bruce J. Friedman of the Humber School for Writers, who mentored this novel before I realized I was writing one. Thanks, too, to my agents Kris Rothstein and Carolyn Swayze, who embraced this book in its earliest form, and my editor Jennifer Hale, creative director Crissy Calhoun, publisher Jack David and the true believers at ECW Press. The Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council Writers’ Reserve and Canada Council for the Arts through the CBC Literary Prizes all ponied up funding that bought me precious writing time. Thanks also to ROOM, Accenti, Riddle Fence and Untethered for publishing stories based on early versions of several chapters.

  Thanks to everyone who read drafts and offered suggestions or provided expert advice on things medical, technical or art directorial: Diane Bracuk, Chris Caswell, Lisa de Nikolits, Jake Edding, Joey Edding, Eufemia Fantetti, Rick Favro, Izzy Ferguson, Koom Kankesan, Dr. Laurence Lee, Lesley Kenny, Heather McCulloch, Maria Meindl and Susan Rynasko. Licia Canton and Jaime Rubin, thank you for your encouragement at critical moments. A shout-out to my friends from Laura Secord Secondary School, especially Debbie Luhowy, the late Kathy Hryb and Shelley Smith Passfield for sharing memories of the day her father made us think the world was about to end.

  Finally, thank-you to my husband and creative partner in comic books, Ron Edding, for the love, fun and inspiration.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PHOTO: AYELET TSABARI

  Growing up in the Niagara region during the Cold War, Terri Favro was told, “If they drop the bomb, we’ll be the first to go.” Today she is a CBC Literary Prize finalist; author of the award-winning novella The Proxy Bride; and co-creator of the Bella comic book series. Terri lives in Toronto, Ontario, and blogs at TerriFavro.ca.

  Copyright © Terri Favro, 2017

  Published by ECW Press

  665 Gerrard Street East, Toronto,

  Ontario, Canada M4M 1Y2

  416-694-3348 / info@ecwpress.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Favro, Terri, author

  Sputnik’s children : a novel / Terri Favro.

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-77041-341-2 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-77305-006-5 (PDF)

  ISBN 978-1-77305-005-8 (ePub)

  I. Title.

  PS8611.A93S68 2017 C813’.6 C2016-906360-7 C2016-906361-5

  Editor: Jennifer Hale

  Cover design: David A. Gee

  Type: Rachel Ironstone

  Author photo: Ayelet Tsabari

  The publication of Sputnik’s Children has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and by the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays. Ce livre est financé en partie par le gouvernement du Canada. We also acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,737 individual artists and 1,095 organizations in 223 communities across Ontario for a total of $52.1 million, and the contribution of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.