Mostly a novel bit

Today was a very quiet day here. Reading. Writing. Cuddling cats. Nibbling the last of a great lemon tart. No workout.

Here's a snippet of the novel, where some of the plant staff get together for a game of pick up hockey. You get to meet some of the people involved in the book. I was thinking of posting what I wrote today, but realized there's a bit of a twist there that needs more exposure to the book.



Dwen came into the lunchroom for shift change to find a group of people around one table. She put the beeper down, and gathered up her lunch stuff to put into her back pack.

`Do you know how to get to the rink, Dwen?` asked Erik `We’re trying to figure out the best way.`

`Sure. I was going to go down to Glenmore, across to Sarcee, and all the way up. It’s the rink behind the mall that’s at the intersection where you come down off Sarcee Trail onto Bowness Road. It’s probably way longer than going through downtown and out Memorial, but there’s only a few stoplights and it’s a no brainer route.`

`Don’t forget about those school zones where Sarcee ends. I got nailed there once,` said BJ. I’ll be going along Memorial. You’re looking really lost, Les.`

`Yeah, kind of. I don’t think I’ve ever been up in that end of town. If I can follow someone I’ll be fine.`

`My way is the easiest. You can follow me if you want,` Dwen said. `You’ll never keep up with BJ.`

`Gentlemen, start your engines!` yelled BJ. `See you all there.` He left the room first, but all the others followed soon after.

At the rink parking lot, Dwen pulled in beside Belinda’s car, which was closest to the rink door. She was pulling her hockey equipment out of the trunk when Belinda and Veronica came out of the rink. `Hey Ronnie, long time no see,` Dwen called. `And Belinda, all of 12 hours, eh.`

`Hi Dwen, it’s been a while. Are you up for this?`

`Sure am. Did you find out where our locker rooms are?`

`That’s what we went in first for. We didn’t want to drag in our bags till we knew where we were going. The rink rat said the City team was in locker room one, and the bozo didn’t clue in when I said ‘and?’. Oh, hi Les. You didn’t have anything to do with organizing this, did you?` Ronnie growled.

`Not me. You haven’t had your coffee yet, have you?` Les edged back a little.

Dwen had dropped her bag back in the trunk. `So are we ok, or what?`

Belinda smirked. `I thought you wanted to change with the guys, Dwen.`

`You’re such a tease, Lin. Of course we’re ok. Locker room two is for us. In the doors, turn right. It’s unlocked now. The guys are in room one.`

The parking lot had been filling up with familiar looking cars. The guys all dragged their equipment bags over to Belinda’s car. `Just like you to be first, Ronnie,` BJ said. `Did you find out which locker rooms we have?`

Veronica slowly looked at her watch, then at BJ. She was a little taller than Belinda, with rangy cowgirl looks that were almost boyish beside Belinda’s more willowy figure. `I expected you to be first BJ. After all, you would have left the plant at eight, and Dwen’s been here a few minutes already. You must have stopped at home for some sack time with your wife.`

`Funny girl. Had to get gas.`

`And funny boys. Which of you clowns forgot to tell numb-nuts in there we needed two locker rooms?`

`Hey no, you can’t pin that on us,` BJ said. Some paperwork appeared. `Here’s our rental agreement. It says two locker rooms. They must have forgot.`

`All right,` said Veronica, `you guys are in room one, we’re in two. Lets get this show on the road.` They all trooped inside.

The three of them had barely started pulling gear out of their bags when the door opened and Carol walked in. `Hey ho, the gangs all here,` she said as she dumped her stuff beside Veronica. `Are you guys going to wear all your gear?` she asked as Belinda pulled out a helmet. `Blair said he was just going to wear a jock under his jeans, shin pads, and gloves.`

`Hi Carol,` the three of them replied. `I’m for sure wearing everything,` Belinda said.

`Me too,` added Dwen. `Accidents happen, and I don’t want to be injured again.`

`I don’t want my boney old bod to get bruised,` Veronica said. `I’ll bet you we see Blair dressed in all the gear. Well, maybe not the helmet. He doesn’t really need one.`

`I just hate wearing a helmet unless I have to,` Carol said. `It always slides around and pulls my hair, which looks like shit afterward.` It was barely shoulder length, but she pulled it into a small pony tail. Belinda’s hair was in the usual braid.

Ronnie ran her fingers through her short spiky hair. `Cut it off, girl. And speaking of cut off, Dwen, there’s the most astonishing story going around about you and Al. After you dumped him, did you really punch him out when you met on the street?`

Dwen blushed a little. `I didn’t punch him out, as you put it. Not that he wouldn’t deserve it.`

`I wonder if he’s still singing soprano,` Belinda mused.

`Ha! So what did you do?`

`I go years without my life getting mentioned at work, and now I’m headline news. Just because I leave someone, he tries to get all clingy, and I make him shove off.`

`Yes Dwen, this is your 15 minutes of fame,` Veronica said. `What did you do to him?`

`Come on Ronnie, have a heart. We know you not having coffee yet is just an excuse to be cranky. You’ve got the guys fooled, but not us.`

`I may have them fooled, but you have them thoroughly spooked. Not that they didn’t respect you before. How did you do it?`

`Oh all right. We met on the street and he started getting on my case again. When I tried to walk away he grabbed my arm and said something about continuing the discussion in private. I made like I had changed my mind and was going to go with him, then put my knee into his crotch as hard as I could. I think I hit him as he was going down, but I’m not sure. He sort of landed on the sidewalk face first. That might have been why people think I hit him. I hate putting on cold skates.` She shivered a few times.

Carol reached into her equipment bag and pulled out a hair drier. `Don’t leave home without it.` She padded in sock feet to the counter, and set up the hair dryer to blow into one of her skates.

`The story goes that you did a little war dance on him as well,` Ronnie allowed.


`Geez Dwen, can I introduce you to my ex? Maybe you can convince him to go away once and for all.`

`Carol, if you’d stop being nice to him when he calls and asks for a second chance, he would go away. Look, I didn’t plan this, it just happened. These stories get so out of hand. Who’s saying these things anyway?` Dwen glared at her skates as she bent over to lace them up.