Five

You'll see when we travel together as you get older, when I sightsee I'm really drawn to derelict industrial-looking stuff like this. Also churches for some reason.

Charlotte and Harriet,

Today was my last Monday as a messenger. It was warm, humid and cloudy but it didn't rain. It was dead quiet and I didn't even feel a twinge of sadness for the end of my career. I did all my mourning when we left Ottawa, where I was a part of the community and I had something to leave behind. It was sure comfortable... when it came to messengering I knew everybody and everything. I even ate for free, but there was no more excitement, so that's more or less what I was looking for when we came to Montreal. Mom had her own reasons and it was the best thing we could have done for ourselves at the time. Then once we got here, I didn't race, play polo or go to the bars, and I realized almost right away what I suspected I might: that I just didn't want to do the job anymore. We never set down roots here, and we started thinking of it as a working holiday. I had a lot of fun learning the city though and I felt good that I could make a living for us here. Also, Mom made a great friend and we made the most of our very hip neighbourhood. Luckily we were paying attention and we acknowledged that a place like this is best for people like us to visit. We have a quieter life ahead of us, but it wouldn't have been so clear and I certainly would have regretted it if we hadn't come. I put my red Bertrand back together tonight, so if the sunny forecast holds up I'll be going out fast and stylish.

Four days to go.