Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Bloor Line, many seasons in.

Asian woman, early 50s, wearing a blue, floor length wool coat with broad red cuffs.

A Kingdom of Dreams, Judith McNaught (Pocket)

Page 63:

Humming gaily to herself, Jenny culled more twigs to the cozy camp fire she'd built using the flint she'd been given yesterday to light their sewing candles. Somewhere in the dense forest nearby, an animal howled eerily at the rising moon...
The dining room chimed a clatter of forks and knives, butter dishes and serving spoons--roasted pork, baby potatoes and asparagus with or without Hollandaise. She stood in the coat room, pushing coats aside like drapes, one by one, then full swoop. Gone. Her smokes in the pockets. No mistake, her fur a conversation piece more and more these years. She glanced back to the tables, a province-wide collection of elementary school teachers. She'd travelled the farthest, she was sure, but could be home by morning if she started now. Picking a number between 1-100, she plucked the coat from its hanger, its signature cuffs a bold choice. But what did she care? She was retiring this year.

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