Overdue Reunion

Back in my home town last night and decided to swing by Kat's house to see if she and Becky happened to be home. As I pull up the street, I see Kat's car and what must be Becky's new car.

Cool, they're home. They have no idea I'm coming. *chuckles to self*

I walk up to the door and ring the doorbell. (Man, high school flashbacks.) No one answers. I knock. Still no answer. I turn around and look. Car in the drive way, Kat's car, Becky's car and one other out front. Someone's gotta be here. I ring again, no answer.

I can hear kids laughing nearby, so on the off chance they're out back with Kat's kids, I walk around the side of the house. Sure enough, there they are. Kat, her boyfriend, Becky and Kat's parents. No one has seen me yet. *chuckles to self*

"Kat," I say, just loud enough to be heard. No response.

Kat," a little louder this time. Everyone turns and looks. Kat and Becky come running down the stairs from the back porch, the look on their faces is priceless. That alone was worth the trip.

They invite me in and we eat, we catch up a little bit and after that it feels like old times, just hanging out.

It was amazing. 10 years since we've seen each other. We've all been through different things, all grown up, all changed a little bit. But despite it all, it felt just like old times. And it didn't feel weird at all. Sometimes you see people you haven't seen for a while and you don't quite know what to say or what to talk about. Not with us. It seemed like we slipped backward 10 years, just friends hanging out.

We talked about this and that. New stuff, old stuff, it didn't matter. We talked about our friends that weren't there. (You guys were missed.) It was nice to be back in the company of good frineds and just feel... I guess comfortable is the word. Yeah, comfortable. Like coming home.

Wish the rest of you could have been there with us.

Dream Job... Literally.

Time to go to work. I go to the bedroom and find the suit laid out on the bed. A nice black suit, light pinstripes, blue shirt, blue tie. Out the door, down the hall and into the garage. I get into the car and drive to work. My parking spot up front is empty.

I wave to the security guard as I walk in the door, down the empty hall to my office. I can hear the rest of the guys across the hall, but I won't see them until work starts. I sit at my desk and go over everything one last time.

A knock on the door tells me it's time. I pick up my clipboard and make my way out of the office. My assistant joins me as we walk in silence down the hall, through the locker room and out to the bench. My guys are already out warming up. My assistant looks at me.

"Ready boss?" he asks.

"Ready," I reply.

The guys finish up and come back to the bench, my starting 5 taking their positions. The puck drops and everything becomes a blur.

We score. They score. Time seems to fly by, but seems to stand still at the same time. My guys take the puck into the attacking zone, blue blurs as they pass the bench. A pass, a shot. Everything is in slow motion. I can see the rotation of the puck, the goalies eyes as they track the incoming projectile, the twine as it bulges when the puck hits it. Then fast forward again. Blue and white blurs back and forth.

Third period. Tied up. 2 minutes to go. I tap the guys I want. Messier, Gretzky, Hull, Leetch and Pronger. Out they go. Messier takes the face off and pulls it back to Leetch in our zone. They set up, just the way I drew it up. They break out of the zone, across center ice. Into the attacking zone. The puck cycles, behind the net, to Messier, back to Pronger, across to Leetch.

Back to slow motion. Hull is open on the right side. Leetch sees it as soon as I start yelling. He lets the pass go. Hull winds up and unleashes a monster toward the net. The goalie reacts, sliding across the crease. Messier and Gretzky crash toward the net, ready for a rebound. I hold my breath. This goal could give me my first win as a head coach.

The alarm sounds.

Damn.