Swimming Archives - Carolyne J Montgomery

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This month’s short story installment is “The Hummingbird,” a heavy story (trigger warnings for rape and anorexia) inspired by cautionary tales from my misspent adolescence. It’s the time-worn tale of a younger sister wanting to impress her older sister. It is one of the stronger ones in the collection. I hope you enjoy it.

Recognition for “Skywalking”

My short story, “Skywalking,” was e-published by the Victoria Writers’ Society in their publication, Island Writer, the Summer 26 edition. If you read the introduction by Valerie White, the editor, you’ll learn that there was a broad acceptance policy for this issue, but it’s nice to be recognized.

I like my two quirky characters, Harry and Edith, who meet in a charity shop in Victoria. Harry looks up to Edith but is puzzled by her choices and her expectations of him. (aren’t we all sometimes puzzled by people’s expectations of us?) Many thanks to Larry Bambrick, who advised me on the revisions.

The BC Masters Swimming Provincials in Kelowna

To mark turning seventy, I entered a swim meet. Like the slogan on the old Lululemon bags advised, “Do Something That Scares You…” It was slightly scary. I learned a lot at the three-day provincial event—when and how to warm up, where to leave my flip-flops and shirt, when to get up on the blocks and more. The experienced members of my team (The Sharks Masters) provided bottomless positive support. There was a lot of action, amazing athletes and a competitive vibe. I got to use the skills I’d gained by the time I hit the last event. There’s a lot more to learn, but yes, I’d do it again. Maybe as soon as November.

Reading and Writing

I’ve got a pile of short stories I should be revising. Instead, I’m negotiating with three fictional characters who might want to be in a novel. They’re busy considering the commitment to all those scenes and plot points and whether they want to change over the course of three hundred pages.

Meanwhile, I read Emma Donoghue’s Giller-nominated page-turner, The Paris Express. It’s a wonderful fin-de-siecle, clock-ticking, pot-boiler of a novel.

And now…

Back to the garden to catch up on all the pruning and planting I’ve delayed and deferred from last year.

See you in June, and thanks for reading.

Comox Valley Sharks Masters — The Jellyfish Division

A year ago, during a challenging time, I was offered an escape to the Caribbean this November to the Barbados Open Water Festival. Honestly, this time last year, I would have agreed to just about anything—sanding floors in Sidney, dry-walling in Duncan, coal mining in Cumberland. But it turns out, the 2025 Barbados Open Water Festival was an excellent event.

I trained harder over the summer, encouraged by the more accomplished swimmers in my group, improving my technique and endurance, and met my goal of completing the 3.3-kilometre event despite the swells and gusting winds that are unusual for Carlisle Bay. Three of our members placed in age group categories on both days. And the answer to the classic travel question, Would you do it again? Absolutely.

Eight of us stayed in a share house like it was 1976 again. It worked perfectly, lubricated by rum punches. Each day, we took the public shuttle bus, a ZR, to the beach. The ZR is a privately owned white van taxi service that stops at official stops but can also be hailed. They are a cultural microcosm—packed, pumping out loud tunes and usually speeding. As one taxi driver explained, “When I tell the tourists about the ZR, half are excited to try them and half are terrified.” I loved them.

Each ZR trip is a minestrone of tourists, commuters, and school kids, transiently sharing the same goal—being at a specific destination at a certain time. This shared goal promotes an efficient and kind co-operation. Experienced passengers direct the tourists. Passengers sum you up, exchange places and find the exact best spot for each traveller. Jump seats are flicked open and closed. Somehow, the passengers make intuitive adjustments for all the body types and abilities. Four abreast on seats that I would have thought could only fit three or even two. On occasion, there is a little impatience with uninitiated tourists.

Cash ($3.50 B) is given to the driver or the person acting as a conductor. You can’t miss your stop if you announce your destination as you board. The crowd will guide you off at the correct stop.

If only for a twenty-minute ride, it was a privilege to be included in such a cooperative community. And it was weird doing up a seat belt when I got into a private vehicle to ride to the airport.

What I am reading

Louis Jean François Lagrenée (French, 1725 – 1805)Mars and Venus, Allegory of Peace (Mars et Vénus, allégorie sur la Paix), 1770 Source Getty’s Open Content Program

When I walked into the Comox library after I got back from Barbados, to return my overdue books, I noticed the 2025 Booker Prize Winner, Flesh by David Szalay, was displayed for short-term borrowing. This is my lucky day, I thought and one of the advantages of our excellent Vancouver Island Regional Library service. So slightly jet-lagged, but mainly riveted, I swept through the spare, tense prose. “OKAY” working hard as dialogue in each chapter.

The story is a merciless study of an unlikeable, passive male protagonist, Istavan, drifting through life, dependent on external circumstances. Chance, class, nationality, education, and male physicality (and sexuality) determine his fate. The transitions between the ten chapters are abrupt and disorienting. but the author skillfully drops the reader into the new time and scene, confirming the evolution of major events. The plot is tense, and the protagonist is infuriating. The dialogue is spare but loaded, uncluttered by embodiment or action. “Okay.” There is little exposition. Yet, this reader couldn’t stop reading. For a more detailed review, see Keiran Goddard’s review in the Guardian.

A much longer book with an eight-year-old, albino protagonist, Edgar, that stuck with me for days, is
Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato. Travel with Edgar after his caring grandmother dies, and he tries to understand the harmed and harmful adults remaining in his life. The perfect point of view of this intelligent, sensitive child is heartbreaking.

North Island Writers Conference — Save The Date

And if you are in the neighbourhood, consider joining the Comox Valley Writers Society and North Island College for the ninth annual North Island Writers Conference.

Thanks for reading

Carolyne

“The Lusty Month of May” (in the garden at least)