Also for Mum This one's for all the broccoli and cheese
Chapter One DEAR HEY CHRISSY DEAR Thanks for writing You must be the last person in the world to still send letters Not that it’s a bad thing I have to say it’s harder to reply to a letter than an email though Canada is great so far It’s so beautiful I’m surprised there aren’t more people moving here Aside from crushing loneliness the colder weather I’m doing well I’ve got my first tour starting next week I’m kind of nervous but at the same time I’m dying to get started There’s only so much classroom time I can stand considering it’s summer Sorry I don’t have more to say Nothing happens It’s 5
been super laid-back aside from training I’m sure I’ll have more to say once I actually start working Be nice to Mum do your homework etc No boyfriends until I get back okay Miss you Love Talk to you later Lewis I reread the letter twice before sealing it in an envelope making sure there weren’t any errors for Chrissy to latch onto and berate me for At fifteen my sister was three years my junior but that never stopped her from making sure I remembered we grad uated together She was starting university this coming September majoring in biophysics And I was here earning less than what my rent cost trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life To balance out health and hunger I decided to jog to a nearby pizza parlor for lunch after posting the letter Then triple checking I’d gotten the time right I 6
hopped on a bus to my boss’s office The neighbor hood was typical of North Vancouver a mismatched collection of multimillion-dollar West Coast contem porary styles and more demure split-levels Some were hidden behind massive hedges or wrought iron gates others boasting wide open driveways to show off a collection of cars that were worth more than I’d ever touch in a lifetime This was the land of new money nestled in the space left between the cedar forests mountains and Pacific Ocean It was also home to my employer I stood at the driveway of one of the neighbor hood’s more luxurious properties and pressed the buzzer on the gate That you Crake Uh yes Should I have added sir Or is that too formal Is it possible to be too formal I mean I already have the job It can’t matter too much The gates swung open I realized then I was wear ing my athletic gear Excellent planning as per usual on my part 7
