Burridge Unbound by Alan Cumyn

wet. There’s just enough room to do some animals. A man has to be able to defend himself.
Dragon
. Lunge for the neck, pull on the arm, attack the neck again.Both sides. You might get attacked on the other side. Back straight, bum and chin tucked in, rounded shoulders, elbows out. A cat stance. Why does the dragon use a cat stance? A question for Wu. Lunge and pull, lunge again. Now
lun
. Intercept the blow. Break the arm and pull down. Choke the neck as he falls towards you.
    Pang, mandarin
, snake, and ape. All my animals. I do them again and again, my feet going squish-squish on the carpet. There’s going to be hell to pay.
    Dragon,
lun, pang, mandarin
, snake, and ape. Both sides. Again and again and again. It beats thinking. It brings the night along. Slowly. Squish after squish. The time is liquid but it’s flowing. Slowly at first, then quicker, like sweat. Elbows out, turn the hips, don’t lean too much on the knee. Dragon,
lun, pang, mandarin
, snake, and ape. Intercept the punch and break the arm. Thrust and jerk. One side and another. Eyes on the horizon. See everything at once but not in detail. The devil’s in the details.
    At four in the morning I drink long from the tap, gingerly step around the shards of kitchen casualties. Breathing and breathing. When you do the animals for a long time a warmth takes over your body. It’s almost as if Wu is standing next to me. This is the first time I’ve felt this on my own. I find my squishy spot again and fall into more practice. The less thinking I do the better off I seem to be. Dragon,
lun, pang, mandarin
, snake, and ape. Break the arm and strike the neck. Stay relaxed. If there is danger most of all. Your body can interpret the energy coming at you, will know in the moment exactly what to do. But only if you stay relaxed.
    At five in the morning I start picking up pieces of glass. I unhook the trash bucket from inside the kitchen cupboard and traverse the apartment on my hands and knees. When thebucket is full I find a box and when the box is full I use a double-strength brown paper bag. Then I drain the tub and mop the remaining water from the bathroom, leaving the appliances to drip dry. Joanne will be so happy to see what I’ve done. I’ve been making so much progress!
    When she comes in I’ve nearly got everything back in order. There’s a terrible shortage of dishes, of course, and the baseboards betray a recent flood mark, and the place smells awful. And I haven’t righted the desk yet.
    “What happened here?” she asks, quite restrained, I think, considering.
    “I’m going to need a new computer,” I say. “This one just can’t fly.”
    “You’re right there,” she says, surveying the trash bucket, box, and bag, the dripping appliances, the sorry computer. “I thought Hurricane Bonnie was heading for the Carolinas.”
    I get to my feet. “Cato, attack!” I command.
    “You must be joking.”
    “No, I’m serious. I’ve been practising most of the night. Attack me. Anything you want to do.”
    “I am not Cato. I’m your nurse!” She comes at me anyway, a big sick grin on her face. I take my cat stance. Relax, relax …
    In an instant she whirls a wet cushion off the sofa and launches it at my head. I have no defence except to duck quickly, by which time she’s launched the second cushion straight into my midsection. I fall in a heap, coughing, sputtering.
    “Oh, Jesus!” she says, kneeling beside me. “Are you all right?”
    I cough some more, slowly get to my feet. “I haven’t learned the wet-cushion defence yet,” I say. “It must be one of the six missing animals.”
    “Must be,” she says.
    I go back to poking the computer. She looks through the kitchen for a while, then steps back out. “So, I take it breakfast will be out this morning?” she says.
    “Just punch me slowly,” I say. “With your left hand.”
    “My left hand?”
    “Just do it.”
    The fist comes at me slowly. I intercept, bend it against