Lost in Gatineau

I was dressed for battle, had been defeated and was now in retreat. If I had been at the Battle of Hastings, I would have been the one with the shiny nondented armour, well oiled, walking around looking for my horse which I had fallen off when the order to charge had been given. The battle was ranging down in the valley below and I was finished, out, and needed to be taken off the field.

More specifically, I needed a taxis and I had no idea where to begin my quest. I knew there was little chance of hailing a cab and ladies do not hail their own cabs. They dash from door to cab and back wearing inappropriate shoes and garments for the weather. I had the shoes and I was not getting salt on them. In fact, I did not even want to walk on the floor, it was made for men who wear galoshes - for shoes that gripped and mine, most certainly, did not. So I wandered around, numb, feeling inept and like a fool. Anyone can phone a taxis - but me. I stared at the Pay Phone but realised that I had neither a quarter nor a number. So I drifted back towards the front doors again. The elderly man who was watching me in my haze finally spoke. So I responded in French, several times. How do I phone a taxis? I pleaded. He smiled, pleased to be talking to someone, but responded not.

And then I spotted him, a commissionaire, he would know and he did - I had a cab inside of five minutes. And so I rode back to civilian life, realising my biggest battle scar was to my confidence. It was tattered and torn and I knew there was no quick fix. So I smiled looking as though someone had killed my best friend. Little did they know they had pierced the armour I had built over the past four years. It had been buffeted and battered and grown thin but the walls had never been breached. However, they had finally burst through and my armour now had a squeak and a gaping hole

and the air whispered,
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Who saw him die?
Who caught his blood?
Who'll make his shroud?
Who'll dig his grave?

and I whispered back,
let me be in peace.
I'm not done yet.