Candidate
![Candidate](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/13875/272809/5ae3099b8cb51/Candidate.jpeg)
Spencer showed me the margins. The symbol cartwheeled down the page. We’d seen it in a movie. The bad guys wore the symbol on their arms. Spencer was the only other boy who’d seen the movie, so we could laugh about it together.
At my desk, I tried drawing the symbol, but the pencil sometimes went the other way. For a while, I forgot how it was meant to go. Then I thought about the guys in the movie, and it came.
I laughed and looked to Spencer. His head was down, pencil working on the page. I made one symbol after another. Every time it worked, it was exciting.
I wondered what else Spencer was drawing. What else had he seen?
The teacher stood up. Spencer’s head stayed down. Now she came up the aisle. In the movie, we’d seen what happened to the bad guys. I rubbed out my symbols and brushed the dust away.
The teacher asked for Spencer’s paper, but I guess he’d erased his symbols, or maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. She just handed back the page and told us to keep working.
Spencer and i tolerated other shows but only really liked The Simpsons. The Simpsons taught us the culture. For years, we’d see something in a movie or on TV and finally understand the reference from The Simpsons. When we encountered the actual source, we already knew how to make it funny. The only other thing we watched was a tape of Spencer’s sister getting thrown from a horse.
Everything Spencer said was funny. He talked like The Simpsons. You didn’t have to know why.
One time, he said, “Ask me if I’m a tree.”
“Are you a tree?”
“No.”
That was the funniest thing we’d ever heard.
Esta historia es de la edición May 2018 de The Walrus.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 2018 de The Walrus.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
![MY GUILTY PLEASURE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/ZjBpzYG4o1719492279999/MY-GUILTY-PLEASURE.jpg)
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
I WAS AS SURPRISED as anyone when I became obsessed with comics again last year, at the advanced age of forty-five. As a kid, I loved reading G.I. Joe and The Amazing Spider-Man.
![The Upside-Down Book](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/69rONulnf1719492018954/THE-UPSIDEDOWN-BOOK.jpg)
The Upside-Down Book
In her new novel, Rachel Cusk makes the case for becoming a stranger to yourself
![Pick a Colour](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/gfjRqDBPR1719491028118/PICK-A-COLOUR.jpg)
Pick a Colour
BACK HERE, I can hear a group of women trickle in. Filling the floor with giggles and voices.
![Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/Va0q3epMo1719490712561/QUEBECS-CRUSHING-IMMIGRATION-POLICY.jpg)
Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy
Familial separation can have devastating consequences on mental health and productivity
![The Briefcase](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/F9k8iWEzU1719490185232/THE-BRIEFCASE.jpg)
The Briefcase
What I learned about being a writer from trying to finish a dead man's book
![In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/mgurf-_Dv1719487984600/IN-THE-FOOTSTEPS-OF-MIGRANTS-WHO-NEVER-MADE-IT.jpg)
In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It
Thousands have died trying to cross into the US from Mexico. Each year, activists follow their harrowing trek
![Blood Language](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/XYrsQ_vA81719486997059/BLOOD-LANGUAGE.jpg)
Blood Language
Menstruation ties us to the land in ways we've all but forgotten
![Dream Machines](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/mpkA9pAuF1719486535433/DREAM-MACHINES.jpg)
Dream Machines
The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype
![Invisible Lives](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1514951/2Hy-_fagA1707905048505/crp_INVISIBLE-LIVES.jpg)
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
![My Guilty Pleasure](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1514951/290c5p7DA1707905886467/crp_MY-GUILTY-PLEASURE.jpg)
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"