we rejoice because the hurting is so painless

andrew draws a properly coloured diagram, cmplete with red lines, blue lines, circles and nets. then he opens himself up to a barrage of questions by laura and i. we ask about penalties, icing, what offsiding means, the neutral zone, rules involving the crease and face offs.

i think i might understand hockey a little better now.

afterwards, andrew walks with me in the pouring rain to the bus stop. he would have stayed, but didn't want to sleep in the same room as his girlfriend and her mother. and- i secretly overhear him- he doesn't like the idea of girls walking alone downtown. heh.

while waiting for the bus- alone now because i'm headed in an opposite direction- a smoking [in more ways than one] french boy falls asleep practically on top of me, and is rudely awakened by a spectacular accident that happenes three feet from where i am standing. no one is hurt, so he tells me in rapid fire distorted quebec french that it was pretty "magnifique, oui?"

i can't help but agree. there's something so satisfying in the crunch of metal.