Gas Station Destination

It started off like pretty much every other day, well every other Friday. Woke up, took a shower--you know the usual morning stuff, ate breakfast, went to work at my secretarial job. Just like any other day.

About mid-morning I received a phone call. A phone call from a friend from Florida who was at a youth conference in Edmonton called Acts for Christ (like GYC). He tried to persuade me and my friend Ellen to come. I could hear our housemate Alex(andra), who had flown there the day before, in the background laughing. I laughed too, but I was laughing off his preposterous idea! I was also trying not to laugh too hard at him on the phone, because there were visitors standing in front of my desk talking to our General Vice President and well, I wasn't looking very professional at all. Such is the problem when your friends know you are always there to answer the phone, because well, it's my job! So I laughed him off and told him all the reasons why it was literally, impossible to go. It was a 12 hour drive! Ellen was nearby and I told her about my conversation. And somehow the idea just wouldn't go away. So after I came up with all the reasons why we shouldn't go, and how it just wouldn't work out, and Ellen came up with all the reasons of why we should go because it would be so exciting and adventuresome, she won out in the end.

Mrs. Grouse's Demise

Today I drove to Pemberton to pick up my friend Stephanie from her apartment for a weekend visit. After a quick tour of her place we hopped in the car and headed back to Fountainview where I live. I was driving along, enjoying our conversation, when I noticed in the road, a grouse stepping along. She was not walking very fast. Merely meandering across the road. She was still in the other lane, and I just knew that at the pace she was going, I would surely be able to make it by her before she reached my lane. I sped up. To my dismay, she too began moving faster. I drove faster, she ran faster. There was nothing I could do. She was almost in my lane now. Faster she came!    And then with soft thud it was over. I drove on. It was too late for Mrs. Grouse. We said a few solemn words on her behalf (mostly about Mr. Grouse and any possible eggs) and continued on our trip.

We stopped in town to buy some groceries. Steph and I were walking out of the grocery store towards my car, when I noticed that Mrs. Grouse, was still, in fact, with us. There she was, wedged in my front bumper. Wings oddly flaring out, head at a peculiar angle, eyes glassed over. It was a rather shocking sight. I was not about to extract her in such a public setting, leaving her body abandoned on the parking lot pavement. No, we would dispose of her body in a more private, rural setting. So Stephanie and I set off to Fountainview with Mrs. Grouse still boldly displayed in my front bumper. As we neared Fountainview I pulled over onto a wide gravel shoulder. It was time for my car and Mrs. Grouse to go their separate ways. It was not so simple.