Fiction

I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our family summer holidays were spent on the South Shore, very close to a small fishing village. Many days were spent fishing or watching the gulls fight over scraps thrown to them by the fishermen.

I somehow think Belinda Lee grew out of that experience. There are too many boats similar to the Belinda Lee; whether they are too old or perhaps they leak — whatever the situation — they are cast aside. It always seemed rather sad to think after years of service, these old, weathered fishing boats were no longer needed.

The inspiration for this story came on a snowy Christmas day, when I saw a snowman outside my window in Giessen, Germany, where I was stationed with the United States Army during my first three years of service. I took that memory along with me on a deployment to Iraq, and I gradually wrote this story during the short breaks I got between missions.