Emily Paskevics has made the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize longlist for Little Wild Creatures.

Emily Paskevics is a writer and editor currently based in Montreal. She is the author of the chapbook The Night That Was Animal. Her poetry, essays and short fiction have appeared in in Hart House Review, Vallum Magazine, CLASH Media, University of Toronto Magazine, Rogue Agent, Dark Mountain and the Journal of Wild Culture, among others forthcoming.

The land keeps our secrets.

"The bees my father keeps and the woods where I grew up, in Ontario."

The budding of the apple trees reminds me that I haven't been touched by a man in far longer than the turning of long, cold season. Springtime always reminds me. I weave through the apple orchard, heading into the little enclosure of my beeyard. The six hives are quiet under their tar-papered wraps. Now that the songbirds are returning, it's time to unpack them from their deep-snow slumber.

Despite my efforts, three of the hives haven't made it through the winter. I start pulling them apart, scraping away dead bees. It happens every winter: some colonies just don't make it, while others thrive. I'll clean them out, divide the remainder and re-queen them, ready for a new season of survival.

The winner of the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.