Chapter 9

Thomas woke up but he didn’t open his eyes. Music was still playing from his laptop from the night before. It was DragonForce.

DragonForce is only good to listen to sometimes. And by sometimes I mean rarely. And by rarely I mean almost never. And never in the morning.

Thomas didn't want to open his eyes because he had been having a very good dream and however childish it may seem, whenever Thomas had a good dream, he didn’t want it to end.

In his dream, he was back in Canada and happy.

In real life he was in France. And not the romantic side of France.


When he returned to France for the funeral, things went wrong.

He was a victim of identity theft, and all his money was taken from him.

His passion and skill for cooking died with his love.
Most people would compare it to a light burning out, but in poor Thomas's case, it was like the sun had imploded. He had a hard time making scrambled eggs. Which even I can do.

This hadn't been a problem in Canada, because there are always plenty of jobs and a sound government to take care of you. But in France, where his French was spotty at best, he was useless for anything but hard labor, and nobody took care of him.

His wisdom teeth were growing in.

He had broken his right index finger when a sudden gust of wind slammed a heavy wooden door on it.

While he was at the doctor, he missed the Canada vs. America Olympic Hockey match, which he had been looking forward to for months.

Bad luck Thomas.

Fortunately, he found a job that required him to split large rocks from inside tunnels and mineshafts.

His work usually involved rocks that could not be removed by dynamite because it was too dangerous.

The work was intense and beyond meaningless, but Thomas learned a lot while he did it.

Most of the time he thought about other things.

It took him six months to get on his feet again.

In those six months, he made some of the best friends he would ever make.

He also learned a lot about how the world works.

He bought a ticket for Canada, through New York.

The night before he left, he and his two closest friends went out for drinks.


When he got home, he made himself the best tasting omelet he had ever eaten.