Take you driving.

Keep on.......

I remember the car – it was a jaguar, old school; leather seats, polished wooden dashboard.

There was not much conversation, a greeting and then settling back and listening to the music and the purr of the engine gliding along the Devonshire lanes. 

I think the music was jazz.

It was night-time, far too late to be hitch hiking and no one else was out on the road at this hour. 

The hedges alongside the lane were thick and high, masking any light escaping from the cottages and the farms.

We were alone.

There may have been a joint passing between those on the front seat, in the back I just stared out into the black.

......

The second car is an Opal, modern, loaned by the garage.

It’s night-time again, the people in the front seat have been drinking; not too much but more than expected.

They are giggling.

The music this time is Ed Sheeran, one of the three on the back seat recognises it.

Her name is Solange and she is far too young to be hitchhiking this late at night; the driver hardly saw them standing under the lilac tree on the corner by the bridge.

They had been swimming earlier, the evening had surprised them.

 formerly published in The Archives.