Story about the later life of Sarah McCairn. The character Eve is one of the "Friends of Anthrocon" and mascot for the Even Hotel, created by Moth Monarch.  Moth Monarch Used imaginatively by permission!
"22" is by Taylor Swift
"The End of the Line" is by The Travelling Wilburys


June 21, 2012


"They say this is the only city that makes an entrance."

The limo rolled jauntily through the Fort Pitt tunnel, the bright light at the end of it growing ever closer.

"But before we get to it, here's my special gift for a special bou," the twinky terrier handed Sarah a small box that he had been saving. "Happy one year!"

Sarah laughed at her thoughtful canine cameraman. Had it really been a year already? A year with the network meant that it was well over a year since she had hung up her skates, which she found hard to believe. It hadn't taken long for Sportsnet to reach out to her and offer her a position as analyst and colour commentator. And colourful she was, a veteran hockey player who offered a female perspective and could yak about the game equally well in Quebecois French or heavy Glaswegian-accented Scots English (which she wasn't above playing up for humour). Of course they loved her. It had taken a little while to get used to the world of television, but she felt well within her element now and was more than a little excited to be on her way to Pittsburgh to cover her first NHL Draft.

She opened the box and found a large celebratory cupcake, the icing covered with a scrumptious looking layer of lichen. "Oh, you're so good, Tim." She gave him a toothy grin.

"Nothing at all I'm sure, my darling," said Tim, breezily. "Alright, here it is!"

They came out of the tunnel and Sarah made an impressed whistle at the view that unfolded: a huge yellow steel bridge directly ahead of them and the skyline of the "Golden triangle" downtown area off to the right. "C'est beau," she breathed.

As they crossed the bridge, she gobbled down the cupcake. "So good," she said, "but going right to my arse, no doubt! I need to work out before tomorrow."

"Well, you're in luck," said Tim. "This hotel has a great gym; it's a brand new chain and this one's just opened, two years ahead of schedule. They're all about health and wellness, they say. Of course, you won't even need the gym to work up a sweat around here."

When they got to the hotel, Sarah found out what he meant. With one step out of the air conditioned limo, the heat and humidity hit her like a Zdeno Chara slap shot (a good one to use later!). She almost got out without scraping her antlers against the limo's doorframe. They got their personal bags and she bid farewell to Tim until their broadcast would start at the draft tomorrow.



Once she got to her room, she chilled out (literally, the AC was lovely) for a while and then changed into a her black athletic shorts and sportsbra and went to find this gym that Tim had spoken so highly of. As it happened, it was quite nice and quite well populated. There was a late afternoon class about to start. The instructor was a young female grey kangaroo, dressed similarly to her, who looked very much like she did this every day. A great workout... and some eye candy, Sarah thought with a grin. Nice.

The class started with the usual things: upbeat music, stretching, jumping jacks, encouragements from the instructor to go harder, "just one more minute."

When they got to lunges, Sarah was really feeling the burn. The roo said, "Keep going, ten more reps! You can pick up some weights for more of a challenge!" Sarah didn't hesitate and grabbed a couple of 15-pounders from the weight rack. She continued the lunges. The instructor hopped around the room seeing how everyone was doing and when she got to Sarah said, "Careful now, don't overdo it with the heavies!"

"Ah, no worries lass," Sarah reassured her, "I've been doing this since you were a wee Joey." She took the opportunity to admire the girl's firm rear and lovely abs, but even as she boasted about her experience in matters of working out, she felt in painful twinge as she brought her weight down on her right hoof. She gritted her teeth and continued the routine until they were finished.

After Sarah towelled off and was making her way out the door, the instructor came over and lightly grasped her arm from behind, "Oh Crikey!" the kangaroo exclaimed. "Sorry. You're Sarah McCairn, aren't you?"

"Indeed I am."

"Hi," she smiled shyly. "I'm Eve. You must be down here covering the draft, yeah?"

"Ay," said Sarah. "You guys get Sportsnet down here?"

"No. But I've seen clips on Ewetube. You're hilarious! Sorry..."

"No, I try to entertain!" Sarah snickered at the nervous girl.

"But I saw you before that, even. I saw you with Team Canada, winning the Gold in Utah. You were awesome!"

Sarah laughed, "I played just a small part in that one, but it was quite a time. Very pleased to meet you Eve." She took Eve's hand. "I'm going to go shower now. Come meet me in the bar at 7 and we'll have a drink, if you like. My treat."

Eve's blue eyes lit up brighter than her orange shock of hair. "Yes, I'd love that! Thank you!"


When Sarah got to the bar, Eve was already waiting, looking very eager. The roo was wearing khaki shorts and a white tank top. Sarah had on her dress pants and blouse; she felt rather overdressed, but she hadn't brought any other clothes except her workout outfit. She approached Eve's table, trying not to limp and ordered a shot of whiskey, while Eve got some fruity cocktail.

"So, you really remembered me from the Olympics?" Sarah asked.

"Yes! Well, what I remembered mostly I think was your antlers. Not very common to see in women's sports. You stood out. A most impressive rack." She winked cheekily.

"Ay, it would just be us bous that have them," said Sarah, sipping her booze. "They look impressive sure, but they're not the most convenient. I needed a custom helmet, cost a pretty penny. And they got cracked off more than once by an errant slap shot. Depending on the season, they can bleed more than you'd think too. But they grow back. And, luckily, I somehow never once lost a tooth." She grinned widely, showing off her miraculously conserved pearly whites.

Eve laughed. "But besides that, you played great. Canadians are terrifying on the ice, and you more than most. Heavy hockey, like a man... if that's okay to say." She giggled nervously.

"Ay, it's true. Did you know in the early 90s there was talk of taking body checking out of women's hockey?"

Eve scowled, "Oh, that would've been lame."

"Not even hockey," Sarah agreed, "and I'd have never made the Olympic team with those rules, I'll admit that. So..." she shifted the subject from herself, "you must play some sports too, I'd say?"

"Yeah, softball mostly. I wish I could skate well enough to try ice hockey; it looks like a blast."

"Softball eh? That's baseball, but softer, right? I'm not terribly familiar with either. I'd have thought you'd more go for foot... I mean soccer. What, with those legs... not to mention that tail."

Eve laughed. "A bit of soccer too, yeah. But in most soccer leagues they don't let you whack the ball with your tail anymore. That wouldn't be fair to..."

"To wee little nubs like mine," Sarah finished with a chortle, waggling it for emphasis.

"So who do you think are the big picks for tomorrow?" asked Eve. "I don't follow it that closely."

"Nail Yakupov will be the top pick, that's well known. I'm not sure how he'll pan out though. The Oilers may well waste him like they're wasting Taylor Hall. I think a key guy to look out for is another Russian, a goalie - people always sleep on the goalies - Andrei Vasilevskiy. I think he'll go mid first round, but could be the most impactful player in this draft. Time will tell though, and it does take a good deal of time."

Eve nodded. "Fascinating," she said, clearly wanting to learn, but not really having the knowledge to contribute much to the discussion.

A bubbly pop song came on:

It feels like a perfect night, To dress up like hipsters, And make fun of our exes, Ah-ah, ah-ah

" So Eve..." Sarah said, "Do you have a... boyfriend?"

Eve snickered. "I think you know I don't.... anymore than you do." Sarah liked that answer.

Sarah said, "Ay... So you not only bat with the ladies in softball, but for them generally as well?"

Eve smiled shyly. "Well, I'm newly out, but yeah."

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22, Everything will be alright, if you keep me next to you

"And I just turned 23. I just missed this song. Ha. But I still haven't really found where I fit in the lesbian community. I have a lot to learn." She brushed her ear and bit her lower lip cutely.

Sarah's heart fluttered. Adorable baby dyke. I can teach you. Please let me teach you.

Sarah finished her whiskey and said, "I'm sure you'll have a grand time once you put yourself out there."

It seems like one of those nights, We ditched the whole scene, And end up dreaming, instead of sleeping

"Have you been with many women? If you don't mind me asking?" Eve queried.

Sarah laughed. "There's usually been one teammate or another who's been hot for me, ay. It's not hard to find each other in our game. But I think my best was still my first. I fell for my best friend right at the end of high school. We had an AMAZING summer and I'd never trade it for anything. But it wouldn't have worked out for her. She was bi... and from a very different background. Also, a very maternal type; she's probably got a bunch of pups now, changing nappies and such. Not for me, but it is what it is."

"Awww," said Eve. "That must have been hard for you, though."

"You never forget your first."

Eve eyed her longingly with her huge baby blues. "Well, I'm glad you came to my class, Sarah."

"You were great," said Sarah.

Eve downed the last of her beverage. "I can think of other ways besides the gym that we could get hot and sweaty. And I don't mean stepping outside for 5 seconds."

It feels like one of those nights, You look like bad news, I gotta have you, I gotta have you

Sarah looked up and said, "Damn, that song is on the nose tonight."


Back in Sarah's room, she had never been so grateful to get her clothes off. The air conditioning was delightful blowing against their sweaty fur. They had stripped down to their undies and were rolling around on the bed, having a wonderful time. Sarah kissed Eve's belly and rubbed her nose through the girl's soft baby fur, which smelled like eucalyptus. Eve pushed Sarah onto her back and climbed atop the caribou, grabbing her antlers and leaning down to commence kissing. Their finely toned abs rubbed against each other as their tongues met. Sarah could taste the fruity drink the roo had been drinking and hoped that the whiskey was not too strong in her own mouth. But Eve seemed undeterred and kept kissing her frantically.

"Slow down, baby," said Sarah. "We've got all night." She grabbed the roo's firm rump with both hands, which made Eve giggle delightedly. Then as Sarah tried to sit up, Eve's weight shifted and came down on her bad leg.

"Ach!!" she cried out and the roo sprang off her.

"What's wrong?" asked Eve. "Oh I know, it's your leg." She put her hands on it. "Oh it's very hot. Needs a proper icing."

"It's nothing really," said Sarah.

"You hurt it in the class, didn't you?" said Eve, shaking her head. "I could tell something was off. Hockey players are the worst for that. You always try to hide it!" She laughed. "I'm not going to try to hack it with my stick, don't worry!" She got up and threw on a bathrobe and went out into the hall, presumably to get some ice.

When she came back, she got a small towel, which she wet and dumped the bucket of ice onto, creating a cold compress. When she pressed to it Sarah's inflamed leg, the caribou winced and a tear came to her eye, for she was remembering the last time a girl had helped ice an injured leg of hers in a bedroom, among other things.

Eve said, "You alright?"

Sarah hesitated, then said, "That's the leg I fractured in my last real game. Got taken into the boards hard and went down awkwardly. And then... I'll always remember, I felt so calm. It hurt a lot, but I'd been hurt before. The thought that came clearly to me, just: It's over. It was bound to happen eventually; getting hurt just speeded the decision. And ever since then I've been so keenly aware of getting older, that everything gets a bit worse day by day. Joints get creaky. You wake up and something hurts for no reason you can tell. I know I'm still in way better shape then, like, almost everyone my age, and I try to keep working out, but it's a relentless thing. Falling apart gradually right to the end of the line."

Eve looked devastated, her lips quivering, her blue eyes huge with empathic pain.

Sarah continued, "But I shouldn't put that on you, sweet lass. You're young and beautiful and have it all ahead of you. Just make sure you enjoy the ride."

Eve smiled knowingly. "I will. But I don't think it's over for you just yet either. Just that one thing. And you've got a whole new awesome career just starting, and I could see you being a coach too. The end of the line? That's a song, isn't it? By that one guy from the Beatles and... some other guys?" She started singing, "It's alllllright, even if you're old and grey."

Sarah recognized it and continued, "It's allllright, you've still got something to say."

Eve laughed and said, "There ya go! And it will be alright... Just keep dancing like you're 22! Just maybe not on that leg right this moment."

Sarah let out a boisterous laugh at that and then they cuddled together and started kissing again.