Angel Wing Splash Pattern is a collection of short stories for dreamers, believers and readers who want a raw look into a corner of Canada that is often over-looked: Contemporary Native life. Each story within the book is only a few pages long (the entire book itself is only 110 pages), but I find Van Camp’s writing so profound and thought-provoking that a few pages is all you need. Quality over quantity. The way Van Camp lures you into the heat of his characters and the way he makes your mind wander about sex, love, compassion and forgiveness is.. well.. it’s flippin’ beautiful.

One of my favourite stories is called My Fifth Step and ’till this day no story, ever, has made me feel so much emotion. I don’t know how to properly describe it because saying it made me “feel” doesn’t attest to the fact how meaningful this story truly is to me. It made me re-think how I should treat other people, the importance of being in the moment and how to forgive and move on. I highly recommend the read for anyone who’s ever had their heart broken and looking for added direction.

The fifth step in an AA program is to contact someone you hurt. However, you are not allowed to contact the person if you’re going to put them in harms way. So, in the short story, a man wrote a letter for his ex who he cannot contact because she is in a relationship with another man. As a result, he wrote this letter to her in hopes that one day, she will find it.

He makes you laugh with cute, quirky memories from their relationship, he makes you cry with the acceptance of his fate and how he will always cherish every moment they had together and at the end he concludes with this tearjerker..

“I miss your love and friendship. Walk in beauty.”