Pick a Colour
The Walrus|July/August 2024
BACK HERE, I can hear a group of women trickle in. Filling the floor with giggles and voices.
Pick a Colour

I can't see their faces and don't know how many there are, but I can tell from the sound there's probably more than three. When I go out to the front room, I panic because I have trouble with this group instantly.

I can't tell any one of them apart.

They each have the same outfit on. A white cotton dress and cream-coloured flip-flops. They aren't all related. They are friends.

One says she's Liz-ee with a "y."

The other one says she's Liz-ee with an "ie."

Lily.

Lou.

Mai asks me: "Damn, how are we going to tell these girls apart?" and when I don't seem to be paying attention, she snaps, "You paying attention?" I say to her, "We don't need to tell them apart.

Just get them done, and out. They want everything done. Toes, nails, face, hair." I look at those parts quickly-toes, nails, face, hair-and quickly try to find differences among them. Shapes, textures. Gait, voice, manner.

We need an extra girl on the floor with us. It would be Nok's shift, but she hasn't come in and she hasn't been in when she's scheduled. As if hearing a voice thinking inside my head, I hear it outside of me:

"It's been a half hour since Nok's shift started and she's not even here," Mai, at the desk, tells me. "If that were me, you'd tell me not to come back."

"Again, huh," I say.

"Again," she repeats.

I join her at the desk and check the work schedule from last week, and it's true she wasn't here then. I knew that without having to look, but I just want to make sure there's a record of it. It's unlike Nok not to be at work this long. She's got two little ones. Haven't heard from her. Not a call. Nothing.

She doesn't live far from here. I think of dropping by her house on my way home. See if she's okay.

I try her phone. Nothing.

"You think I should be worried about her?" I ask Mai.

"I'd worry about you."

Bu hikaye The Walrus dergisinin July/August 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye The Walrus dergisinin July/August 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE WALRUS DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Dream Machines - The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype
The Walrus

Dream Machines - The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype

Some of the world's largest companies, including Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, are throwing their full weight behind AI. On top of the billions spent by big tech, funding for AI startups hit nearly $50 billion (US) in 2023.

time-read
10+ dak  |
July/August 2024
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
The Walrus

MY GUILTY PLEASURE

MY CHILDREN are grown, with their own partners, their own lives.

time-read
3 dak  |
September/October 2024
The Quest to Decode Vermeer's True Colours
The Walrus

The Quest to Decode Vermeer's True Colours

New techniques reveal hidden details in the Dutch master’s paintings

time-read
6 dak  |
September/October 2024
Repeat after Me
The Walrus

Repeat after Me

TikTok and Instagram are helping to bring Indigenous languages back from the brink

time-read
8 dak  |
September/October 2024
Smokehouse
The Walrus

Smokehouse

I WAS STANDING THERE at the corner, the corner where the smaller street intersects with the slightly wider one.

time-read
10+ dak  |
September/October 2024
How Could They Just Lose Him?
The Walrus

How Could They Just Lose Him?

The Huronia Regional Centre was supposed to be a safe home for people with disabilities. Then, amid suspicions of abuse at the facility, twenty-one-year-old Robin Windross vanished without a trace

time-read
10+ dak  |
September/October 2024
Prairie Radical
The Walrus

Prairie Radical

How conspiracy theorists splintered a small town

time-read
10+ dak  |
September/October 2024
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
The Walrus

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

Scott Moe rose quietly through the ranks. Now the Saskatchewan premier and his party are shaping policies with national consequences

time-read
10+ dak  |
September/October 2024
The Accommodation Problem
The Walrus

The Accommodation Problem

Extensions. Extra exam time. Online everything. Addressing the complex needs of students is creating chaos on campus

time-read
10+ dak  |
September/October 2024
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
The Walrus

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.

time-read
3 dak  |
July/August 2024