Jinker



Jinker: To play tricks, to frolic; A bringer of bad luck. [Dictionary of Newfoundland English]

I always loved that word, Jinker. It's fun to say. When we were kids one of us would fall into the brook, or come home covered in tree sap and Nan would say, "Oh you're a proper Jinker, you are." I always thought Jinker would be a great name for a dog.

I never had an actual dog named Jinker, but I did write about one. Jinker made an appearance in several Newfoundland based tales for younger readers. The stories have a creepy, supernatural bent, and Jinker lives up to his name. This is from the story "Tell No Tales."

My curiosity got the best of me, as it always does, and I went to investigate. Jinker had a half decent sized hole dug and was still tearing into the ground. I laughed at him, he looked so serious. Then I caught a glimpse of something in the hole. It was a piece of wood, just under the surface. I stopped laughing and started helping, pulling up more sod to see what it was. Chances were it was only a piece of wood from the old graveyard fence, but something was tingling in the back of my head. Maybe it was something more.

I haven't really done much with these stories (notice the tend there), but I had great fun writing them. Maybe one of these days I'll dust them off, add a few more and let them see the daylight.