“She knows immediately after Nothing to Declare that he isn’t there. The air in the Arrivals hall isn’t any different from the plane or from Gatwick this morning. Thousands of miles without stepping outside; has she really travelled anywhere at all? They’ve only been together six months, and Sam has spent the last eight weeks on a research trip for his book in British Columbia. Now she’s in Toronto for a two-week holiday with him, and he isn’t here. Making herself okay with having to wait, Jennifer goes to the toilets – washrooms, they call them here – and opens her suitcase on the floor. She puts her German passport away, in the pocket with the sketchbook and journal she doesn’t think she’ll use. She changes her trainers and support socks for sandals and considers washing her armpits in the sink, but instead she just stares into the polished steel mirror.”

From ‘Breaking Shore’ – included in the showcase