Silence as I walk these unfamiliar streets.
I can hear my flats lightly brush the pavement. The gravel beneath me mutters as I awaken it from it's overnight position.
My thoughts are quickly dancing in and out of my head. It's early.
Coffee.
I stand amongst 8 men. One chimes Good Morning. The others sigh and grunt, grumpy from the late night and early arrival of morning.
I stare at my feet. I yawn. I shiver.
I climb 4 stairs, look into a sea of strangers and carefully select whom I'll share arm space for 1 hour.
My head bobs, my body lightly sways.
Silence. A snore. More silence.
Loneliness floats through the aisles. Resentment. Exhaustion.
If it was Thursday, perhaps a light smattering of excitement for the arrival of the end of the day.
I feel like a number. A little less important than the others. Ones with tickets and trades.
Fort McMurray. You are a strange place. One I will give a chance. One I will stick out. One that holds many people I love dearly.
But you are hard to love.
Open, light up.
Just then, the northern lights dance through the sky.
I see you, you are heard.
