Short Fiction - 'Preservation' (if you are from Quebec, like that fleur-de-lis loving lemon Caulaincourt for example, you won't like this...) (654 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.57 on 8 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Just me and the cats (View user info) at 2004-08-12 14:38:42 EDT
Preservation
by Just me and the cats
(Written way back in 1991)
Gauthier stood by the side of the highway, trying to ignore the sudden chill in the night air, trying to ignore the rustling sounds coming from the dark woods on either side of him, watching as the approaching lights in the distance grew larger.
He had spent the past two days in southern Ontario, first in Ottawa and then in Toronto, adding his voice to the demands of other Francophones who wanted the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society -and a guarantee of its preservation-entrenched in the constitution. Thinking of the banner-carrying and slogan-shouting he had done over the past two days, Gauthier cursed. For so long now he had entertained such high hopes for the so many talks, like the Meech Lake Accord, and now—
The headlights were drawing closer. Gauthier stuck out his thumb. If only my car hadn't died on me, he thought, I'd be halfway to Montreal by now. Halfway home, not stuck on an empty highway somewhere in the Ottawa Valley.
The vehicle easing onto the shoulder of the road was a battered old pick-up truck. Behind the wheel was a young man wearing a disintegrating straw hat.
"Hey, where're ya headed?" The driver asked.
In flawless English, Gauthier told the driver Montreal was his eventual destination.
"Well hop in!" the driver said, "I'll take you as far down the road as I can."
Gauthier climbed into the cab and slammed the door shut. During the few seconds the interior light was on, he had a good look at the driver, a young Indian.
Native Canadian, Gauthier silently corrected himself. He smiled a smug smile as the young man put the truck in gear and pulled out onto the road. He was sure he had found an ally in the young man. After all, weren't they both being subjected to the same whims and abuses of the white-English ruling majority?
Now speaking perfect French, the young man asked Gauthier what he was doing on the road.
Gauthier told his story in brief, but concluded with a long, rambling statement of his beliefs in Quebec and its people, his belief that Quebec was a distinct society (like that of the Native Canadian, he added sympathetically,) a society which should be preserved.
The driver nodded, muttered, "I agree," and chuckled.
Gauthier wondered aloud what was so amusing.
"Well," the young man replied, "It reminds me of the story of the first white man ever to see the site of what would one day be Ottawa. He was a French explorer. He met with the natives and got along fine. Until he started messing around with their wives. So they killed him. Cut him up into little bits. Made sort of a stew out of him, and celebrated his passing with a warm meal."
The young man paused, turning the pick-up off the highway and onto a dirt road. "Short cut," he explained, when he saw Gauthier's perplexed expression.
"Anyhow, I thought it was funny, you and me meeting like this. A frenchie and an injun."
The truck's headlights illuminated an old barn and a run-down farmhouse. The young man stopped the truck and reached under his seat. "We're here," he announced, aiming a tarnished revolver at Gauthier's heart.
"What?" Gauthier was stunned. "What are you doing? Why are we stopping here?"
The young man grinned. "Some of my ancestors developed an unusual taste way back when, what with all the Frenchmen they... had for dinner. Over the generations we've come to feel as you do. Quebeckers are indeed a distinct society, and they should be preserved at any cost. Out of the truck."
Gauthier scrambled out of the cab. He considered running into the woods.
"I have the eye of the hawk and the speed of the lynx," the young man said, as if reading Gauthier's thoughts. "Besides, I've got a gun in my hand for fuck sake. Don't be stupid. Nobody likes damaged goods."
The young man led Gauthier into the dark barn.
A lantern was lit, and suddenly Gauthier was surrounded by staring faces and reaching hands. He screamed.
The young man shook his head. "Hey man, calm down. You'll wake the dead." He laughed and slapped his thigh, stepping up to a high, scarred wooden table.
Gauthier looked around. Before him were countless shelves, and on the shelves, dozens, hundreds, of jars. Large glass jars. In the jars were people, in bits and pieces. Each jar had a hand-written label.
"Like I said," the young man explained as he set down the gun, "Some of my people have developed a taste for... the forbidden fruit, I guess. Hell, we've been in hiding forever. But that didn't stop us from thinking like you do." He came closer to Gauthier, who saw the glint of lamplight on a long blade.
Turning slowly, Gauthier saw the head of a Roy. The hands of a Lalonde. The feet of a Mercier. The genitalia of a Dinelle. He began to tremble.
"We too think that Quebec is a distinct society," a voice said in Gauthier's ear, "which should be preserved. So that's what we do."
Gauthier looked at the endless rows of jars.
The young man behind him chuckled and raised the knife.
(P.S. - I read that particular version of what happened to the first white man to see Ottawa in a book years ago... and I've been looking for a second source of the story ever since. It may be bullshit, but if it ain't true, it should be.)
User Reviews
Submitted by Just_me_and_the_cats (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:58:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:18:02 (#)
Ranking: 2
It's Fleur de Lys, not lis.
And I liked this, I don't see where's the problem.
--------------------------------------------------
Either is acceptable.
<<<In heraldic language, the Québec flag is described thus: "Azure a cross between 4 fleurs-de-lis argent", i.e. on a blue background, a white cross surrounded by four fleurs-de-lis of the same colour.>>>
--- From the website of the Quebec Government http://www.gouv.qc.ca/Informations/Drapeau/Drapeau_en.html
Submitted by 1Point21Gigawatts (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:46:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sick.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:39:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You crazy hosers, eh.
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:34:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This is quite creepy. Good writing.
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:18:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's Fleur de Lys, not lis.
And I liked this, I don't see where's the problem.
Submitted by gibberish (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:09:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I didn't read it either but I liked the title
Submitted by wazzawazzayo (user info) at 2004-08-12 15:08:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
C'est très bon. This was awesome, but I still like the Frenchies.
Submitted by whiskeyjack (user info) at 2004-08-12 14:59:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I didn't read this but Quebec sucks