Des
banner
mkcanuck.bsky.social
Des
@mkcanuck.bsky.social
A Brit abroad that calls Canada home. Educational Assistant married to Helga the Wise with 2 sons….Proud of my Irish heritage and feel lucky to be Canadian.

Reading, Brit Telly, Films, Music, Dancing, Festivals, WSL and Tea.
Day 25 2022/25 #ssac2025
A Present for Big Santa Nick Kurt Vonnegut

‘Our Santa Nick is a…prying, foul mouthed, ill smelling fake’

Big Nick has a party as Santa giving presents but asking kids what their parents think of him. As he is the ‘heir to the power of Al Capone’

But kids just can’t lie.
December 26, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Are we having a random story tomorrow? @barbaramcveigh.bsky.social 🧐
December 25, 2025 at 4:24 AM
#ssac2025

@barbaramcveigh.bsky.social @ttbrader.bsky.social @mrmuleman.bsky.social @onelitchick.bsky.social

So ends this great series of stories. Kevin Wilson hits it out of the park. Thanx once again to each of you for the collective read along.

I hope we get to do it all again soon! 👏❤️🤩
December 24, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Day 24 #ssac2025

A Very Mario Lopez Christmas Megan Giddings

‘It’s my Christmas to fall in love. I will spend the holidays terrorizing and romancing Mario Lopez’

A women abducts a man for love.

Chaos ensures.
For the reader as well.

Comedy is an acquired taste.
This isn’t.
December 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Day 23 #ssac2025

When You Were Here
Claire Lombardo

‘He’s always been a bit of an asshole’

Josh clashes with dad Pete and disappears as he didn’t want to go to college. His mom Carolyn resends Pete that he is more closer to their daughters.

Love isn’t equal when your kids are so different.
December 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Day 22 #ssac2025

A Nativity Scene
Rion Amilcar Scott

‘I knew she would, and she did’

He was stressed. He had deadlines. But, he had a plan. Until his wife went into contractions and the dispatcher screamed:

‘That baby cannot hit the water!’….

When needs must.
We simply do.
Because we can.
December 23, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Day 21 #ssac2025
The Rent Controlled Ghost
Lee Cornell

‘I’ll tell you a secret…I talk to 4c sometimes. I mean the old 4c’

After his widow Dad and son Cooper move into 4c, Miguel tells him of Halina, who haunts their new apartment. Missing his mom he tries to contact her.

Grief takes many forms.
December 22, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Day 20
The Old Ways Silas House

‘What are you doing with that snooty women?’

Mel returns to her visit her mom Alpha in rural Kentucky with Priscilla and son Blue. Despite a clash over expectations they come to a place of mutual understanding.

For most people, Christmas is the great equalizer.
December 20, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Day 19 Beneath the Softness of Snow Chanel Sutherland

‘You are not my child’…even as you reach across the barrier of the crib and brush his golden hair’

A West Indian women struggles as she leaves her daughters behind to Nanny in Montreal.

A better life comes with stark human cost.
December 20, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Day 18

How to Milk a Sheep
Stephanie Dennee

A heartbroken college grad agrees to housesit a power couple farm. With no experience she finds herself lambing a ewe.

‘Lie and say you can’t, when what you mean is that you won’t’

When sucking up to get ahead she actually discovers her true worth.
December 19, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Day 17

Protection Paola Peroni

‘The living have an uncanny proclivity to ignore death when faced with it’

She returned to Rome from New York to be with her dying grandmother.

Their precious time together brings salvation, perspective and peace by being unflinchingly real to their shared plight.
December 17, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Day 16

Storm Windows
Charles Haverty

‘The women’s had to put up with a lot of nonsense over the years’

Isolated memories and traditions intertwine to show how Lionel and Margot’s relationship with their parents have waxed and wane over time, as painful transgressions fade with old age.
December 17, 2025 at 3:54 AM
@barbaramcveigh.bsky.social @ttbrader.bsky.social @mrmuleman.bsky.social

Maybe we could have picked up Blair when I was with a group delivering a car from New York to Sacramento CA in 1986?

We passed through the Badlands and Mount Rushmore.
December 16, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Day 15

The Idler Tyler Barton

‘What idles is a fat-ass, cobalt F-250’

A knock on the window and Blair finds herself in a bar gushing to Kareen.

It’s the night of awakening from how she came to small town USA and why she wants to leave.

Love’s young dream wilts in the cold of South Dakota.
December 16, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Day 14

Remedies Kali Fajardo-Anstine

‘That man and his choices are behind you now’

Single mom Millie brings 10 year old Harrison over so that Clarisa can meet her half brother.

Things get serious when they call Grandma Estrella to rid their lice.

Sometimes happy families work better separated
December 15, 2025 at 6:45 AM
@barbaramcveigh.bsky.social @ttbrader.bsky.social @mrmuleman.bsky.social

Vancouver Winter Olympics Such an amazing time…

I was actually paid by Aquabus to do a blog of my experiences. And it’s still live:

inthecenterofitall.blogspot.com?m=0

Lots of stuff and nonsense….

🤩
December 13, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Day 13 Two-Man Luge:
A Love Story Claire Battershill

‘The only way I can really explain how I got into competitive luge is by talking about inertia’

He doesn’t know why, but his journey to the Olympics always had Patresh in mind.

Leaving more is always a sign of a good story.

Marvellous.
December 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Day 12 2018/8

Festive George Saunders

‘And just like that, is Xmas’

A father with kids navigate the reality of impending holiday after taking lower paid job post layoff.

The essence of Christmas is what you make of it and why.
December 13, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Day 11 2023/9

Cosmic Cul De Sac Jade Song

‘Wo Yao hui his’ you beg, I want to come home’

An Asian wife is abandoned by her astronaut husband in US suburban hell which drives her to extreme measures with very unexpected consequences.

Harmony with nature leads to eternal cosmic bliss.
December 12, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Day 10 2020/13

Our Humans Meng Jin

‘I knew that he had actually left Kim for the impossible dream’

In a depleted LA working at the Preservation Dept. she meets Duowan. He wants to take her back to China, to start anew on an ‘immortal server’ to eternal life…

Abduction for love is still a crime.
December 11, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Day 9 2022/19

Reindeer Cyan Jones

‘That guy. Last year. There’s a lot of us think it was right, what happened to him’

Ston treks into the hills to stalk a wayward bear. Yet, the discovery of a dead reindeer and sleigh hints at the unthinkable.

Festive mystery that lingers long afterwards…
December 10, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Day 8 2020/22

The Ones We Carry with Us Sara O’Leary

‘I don’t want to die..
I know..But we have to’

She volunteered at a senior home witnessing Agatha death after dementia.

A life lived with the an open heart shows our loved ones won’t be forgotten.

2020: ‘A perfect short story’
Which it is.
December 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM
@barbaramcveigh.bsky.social @ttbrader.bsky.social @mrmuleman.bsky.social

Yes, it’s hard most times to read a ‘short’ story longer than 30 pages these days…maybe we’re just not wired to do so:

youtu.be/X1L1Hd3xfrU?...
How reading changes the way your brain works - BBC World Service
YouTube video by BBC World Service
youtu.be
December 8, 2025 at 4:35 AM
@barbaramcveigh.bsky.social @ttbrader.bsky.social @mrmuleman.bsky.social

Talking of past editions. I took a peek at the 2015 edition. Oh my, ‘short’ was certainly stretched. I found a 35 page and the Christmas Day delight was a whopping 58 pages! Certainly would be good to relive one day.
December 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Day 7 2016/15

Minus, His Heart
Jedediah Berry

‘You have my spine, but I don’t have your tape’

Minus, forces Chip to get back his audio tape he stole from his chest. Winsome Jenny doesn’t have it. So they set off to see Zooman Jubal…

Peculiar.

2016: ‘Spike Milligan on Acid’
December 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM