April 20, 2004

I took three wrong turns in quick succession to end up in the right place — the intersection Katie West was just crossing on her way uptown. She waved, but since I didn’t have my glasses on (again), I didn’t recognize her until she got quite close. I tried compensating for my delayed response by jumping over my handlebars.

I was on my way to meet Trevor for another river adventure; she was on her way to buy birthday presents. I wanted her to come drift downstream instead.

“Maybe some other day,” she said.

I couldn’t bare to see her going away and missing out on all the action, so I gave her some advice about birthday presents.

“Buy them at the Stag Shop,” I said, spending the next five minutes convincing her it was a good idea. She left unconvinced after we said our soft goodbyes.

Trevor was home, dressed for leaving. He was getting out of Waterloo as soon as he could, so the river would have to wait a while. He hugged me incredibly tenderly, wrapping me almost completely in his black coat.

“Go find Katie West,” he said, and I rushed out of his arms and into the street to make sure she did in fact go to the Stag Shop.

I was a breathless and frothing beast by the time I arrived uptown, but Katie West was nowhere to be found. After prowling the streets for a while, I decided to get a haircut.