Whispers from the Myth Teller

It's 2pm and I'm back in Montreal, all in one piece. To the untrained eye/ear, this may sound like a mundane thing. But in the world I live in, it's a blessing.

On the 417 East about 5 kilometers before exit 88, I felt the need to pull the car over. I wanted my bottle of water which was in the backseat, but even after I got it, I just felt the need to take a few extra moments by the road. The scenery wasn't particularly breathtaking and the sky was grey, but the autumnal scent was fresh in the air. I've been learning to trust my instincts, so I leaned against the car for a minute, drank my water, and then got back behind the wheel.

As I approached exit 88, I pulled over once again. A semi-truck was stopped, blocking the highway. Broken glass was everywhere and on the right shoulder, there was a red Toyota Camry with four people inside. The windows were broken and I could see that a girl in the back seat was the focus of the 3 other passengers.

I got out of the car and ran to the scene. The left side of the car was caved in, mostly in the back seat and I could see the girl in question was caught there. She was crying and fighting to stay awake. Two of her friends were talking to her and the third guy was holding her hand, but he kept blinking and shaking his head.

I took off my sweater, wrapped it around the girl, and phoned 911. The 911 operator informed me that an ambulance was already dispatched. By now, we were about 6 people crowded around the car. Others pulled out blankets and wrapped the injured people in the car. One of the people was a nurse, so she made sure the rest of us didn't do anything stupid.

About 40 minutes later (!!), the ambulance showed up as well as a medical helicopter. By now, the girl was fighting to stay conscious and the guy in the front was going into shock. I reached into the front of the car and took the guy's hand, trying to reassure him. He grabbed my hand and my arm and held on like a guy hanging off a cliff. I kept talking to him, trying to keep him from panicking, but the shock was causing him to shake badly. We piled more blankets on him, trying to calm him down.

The paramedics were examinig him now and he released me. It was only then than I noticed the I had sliced my arm open on the broken window glass. Broken glass is sharp; who knew? The nurse in the crowd disinfect the cut and bandaged me up.

About 30 minutes later, the two victims were loaded up in the ambulance and we were allowed to leave the scene. It was only 10 minutes later, while driving down the 417, that I realized that if I hadn't stopped for my water/scenery moment, that I might have gotten directly involved in that accident. Someone is keeping an eye out for me, and for that, I'm grateful.

So I'm back home safe. Please do me a favour and hug your loved ones. As corny granola as it sounds, what I witnessed today reminds me that every day is a gift.

So I'm stranded in Edmonton for a night. Here's what happened.

We left our host family this morning at 8am and headed for the airport. We dropped off the rental car, got through security, boarded our plane, and waited.

And waited. And waited. And then.... we waited some more.

Then we all disembarked. Air Canada was very sorry to inform us that the computer system for their Jazz service had crashed (wrongword, wrongword, wrongword) across Canada, so the planes could not get their flightplans from the Control Tower. Therefore, all the Jazz flights had been cancelled for the day.

Great. So after waiting for 1.5 hours at gate 56, the AC lady told us she had a direct flight for us at either midnight or the next morning. Since AC would get us a room in a nearby hotel, Zimmerman and I opted for the next morning.

So after another couple of hours waiting for baggage and standing in line to get our hotel voucher tickets, we hopped in a shuttle bus and checked in at the hotel. After a late lunch, Zimmerman decided to take a bath and I went for walk (which has brought me to this Internet cafe where I'm typing this entry now).

If all goes well (ha!), I should be back in Montreal by 3pm tomorrow. Hang in there sarahcarotte... I'm coming home as soon as I can!

My morale is doing okay overall. I'm trying to take this as a travelling adventure, so I'm making the best of it.

We visited the West Edmonton Mall. It's big. It has trained seals. It has a pirate ship. It has a huge indoor rollar coaster. I bought a Guiness T-Shirt. That is all.

We also spent the afternoon on Whyte Avenue, seeing the sights and drinking the beer. We stopped in a pub called the Black Dog pub and the band (The Digs) were awesome.

Tonight, we'll be performing the show we're doing tomorrow afternoon (The Devil's Details) for our hosts as a trial run. We may head out for pints afterwards, but it depends on if the jet lag hits me again tonight.

Tomorrow, we'll be at Fort Edmonton park all day taking in the workshops, the other story shows, and doing our own show. Tomorrow night, there's a concert in the evening followed by pints in the town. And then on Monday, we'll be doing the You Don't Know Jack show (and hopefully, selling lots of books).

And then it's back to jolly old Quebec and to our old life. I could really get used to this telling and touring life.

It's 5:51am, I'm dressed and packed and ready to go. sarahcarotte is still chasing away the cobwebs of sleep and my buddy Eric, who has agreed to drive me to the airport, is still asleep.

The water is boiling for the morning tea, but I'll probably grab some breakfast at the airport. I'm debating whether I should take a couple of the herbal sleeping pills or if I should just suck it up. I'm gonna have to learn to suck it up anyways if I intend to be a storyteller of international reknown.

I've brought books, notepads, and my mp3 player. I heard from Scarlet that I might have up to nine students in my new semester of Level 1 at CMS, so I've decided I need to start taking some personal notes on the lessons I'm teaching (until now, I've been relying on Scarlet's notes). I'll be working on that on the plane.

I've also brought 15 copies of the You Don't Know Jack book and Zimmerman is bringing 20 copies. Wouldn't it be sweet if we sold them all?

I'm off to Alberta! There's no backing out now (not that I was seriously considering it). I'll be back on Tuesday afternoon, no doubting kissing the sweet ground that in Montreal and home.

See you all when I get back! Wish me luck!

Yesterday morning, I bought the tickets to Edmonton via Air Canada. I was surprised to see that AC had the cheapest tickets by $300; the final total (with insurance and taxes) came to $1360 for two tickets (for Zimmerman and myself). Hopefully, my grant application will be accepted and the provincial government will be willing to contribute to our trip's expenses.

I'm NOT a good flyer. I'll be popping a couple of valium pills right before getting on the plane. The last time I flew anywhere, it was an 8 hour flight to Dublin, Ireland. I nearly passed out when I saw the hull of the plane, hanging onto the guardrail for support.

I've been trying to avoid the news out of the UK lately. It's not helping with my composure. I've been distracting myself with configuring me new PC and trying to clean up the sty which is my apartment.

I'm just feeling generally overwhelmed.

I just got the email this morning:

Zimmerman and I have been invited to tell in the Edmonton Storytelling Festival in September!

This will be the furthest I'll have ever travelled to do storytelling by invitation. It may also be the case for Zimmerman, but I know he went to Wales for 2 weeks last year to attend a few storytelling festivals.

Now the only thing I need to drum up is the cash for the travel. I'm going to apply for a Travel Grant from the Canada Council to pay for the flight to Edmonton; I'm hoping we can stay with a host family once we get there.

Wheeee!