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joys of freedom and lived it to the hilt. Six
months later Hazel awakened from a drug induced stupor to realize
that she wasn’t really having any fun at all. Yes she had a lover,
but they seldom saw each other sober and more seldom still did they
actually have a conversation. She’d broken it off and moved out to
her own place.
    The demands of school and trying to maintain
her own apartment had proved too much for Hazel and she’d nearly
flunked out. Allowed to remain in school on probation, she moved
back into residence and applied herself to her studies to the
exclusion of all else. A few months later she met and went steady
with “the girl from Goth” as Hazel had called Irene. It was Irene
who’d convinced Hazel to shave her head and get her nose pierced.
(She’d balked completely at the idea of tattoos.) The relationship
failed, but Hazel did manage to get her grades back up.
    Desperately tired of the city and longing to
see a friendly face again, she’d contacted Tommy out at UBC in
Vancouver. He’d convinced her to transfer out. At the end of term,
Hazel had moved to Vancouver and settled into the spare room of
Tommy and Jack’s apartment.
    “Tommy, it’s so wonderful to see you,” Hazel
had shouted as she threw herself into his arms at the bus
station.
    “Easy fella, let’s introduce ourselves
first,” sputtered Tommy as he tried to escape the embrace.
    “Screw you Tommy Reid,” laughed Hazel as she
punched him on the arm and danced out of his reach.
    “Hazel?” he exclaimed, startled at her
appearance, “dear Jesus woman, what have you done to yourself?”
    “Aw Hazel,” he said gently, and swept her
into his arms as a tear sprang to her eye, “I’m sorry honey. It is
really good to see you again. Come on; let me introduce you to
Jack.”
     
    Hazel grinned as she remembered that meeting.
Tommy truly had not recognized her at all, and she had kept the
gothic look just to embarrass him. She’d moved into a small
bachelor apartment near theirs and set about trying to make a new
life. Hazel spent the next school year tying to study, working two
jobs, and having a less than satisfying relationship with a girl
from Victoria.
    Hazel shook her head slowly as she remembered
the screaming match when she and Shelly had broken up. That had
been the final straw for Hazel, or so she’d thought at the time.
Three weeks later she been informed that she’d flunked out and
would have to make up three courses if she wanted to return. Hazel
could neither afford the courses nor did she have the desire to
try. She’d sat in her apartment and cried for a week until Tommy
found her there. Hazel was almost suicidal by this time.
    Somehow Tommy had pulled her through and
she’d gotten back on track a bit. She’d given up on school for a
while and taken a full time job as well as keeping one of her part
timers. Hazel had started to let her hair grow back and she’d
renewed her interest in running. The area around UBC was ideal for
this and soon Hazel was returning to her old self once again.
    They’d been sitting around in Tommy and
Jack’s apartment when the conversation had begun. Jack had sparked
it off and it had soon taken on a life of its own. “Lucky bugger,”
Hazel had said as they watched a program about a man who had found
a way to turn his hobby into his living.
    “Ok Hazel,” laughed Jack, “if you could have
any job in the world, what would it be?”
    “Yeah Hazel, confession time,” chimed in
Tommy. “What’s you ideal occupation?”
    “You really want to know?”
    “We really want to know.”
    “I’d like to spend my days climbing around
the lonely beaches, photographing the tiny wildflowers that cling
to the rocks,” she’d smiled softly as she leaned forward to rest
her elbows on her knees. “I really admire the way something so
delicate can be so incredibly tenacious and tough at the same time.
Some of the most beautiful blossoms I have ever seen were on the
cliffs near home.