She switched the conditioner on to full blast. Ice cold air hitting her face. She stuck the cigarette between her lips, bent forward towards the steering wheel and lit it with a practiced click of the lighter. She lowered the window down a crack, letting pent-up wind rush in. Turned up the volume to drown out the noise of the freeway. Speedo touched 70. The sun shone gently, approving the Sunday morning. Half a weekend gone. Blown away with ciggie smoking, sucked down with cheap Scotch. A lot of talking, a lot of keemah, a lot of pipe-dreaming. The feeling of content that was blowing in with the wind spread through the car, invading space ruthlessly. Johnny Nash, "I can see clearly now the rain is gone". She turned the volume up even higher and sang along, her fingers tapping time on the wheel.
It's funny how these moments happen when you least expect them, moments of descending peace, things falling into focus or rather falling out of focus, perspective reigning for a brief interim. And then just like that, a click of the fingers, a blaring of horns, a confusion of impressions, reality leaps back and it's over.
The cops filed the report. A summary of her life, a briefly telling epitaph, a three-letter-long fullstop. DUI. Shit happens. Shoulders shrug.
Hearts on sleeves aren't in vogue anymore. Keep yours safe.
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16 comments:
Wow, talk about dazed... I read the DUI bit as 'dooieey'...
"speedo touched seventy" sounds *really* dui.
Hearts on sleeves are still in vogue! You just have to wear it to know..
Although it is kinda boring luggin it around, but still in vogue i suppose (like one of those low wait jeans that keep hanging on your waist but *are* still all the rage! :D
Yes, they aren't, are they? Lovely post, great ending.
Sure it was Scotch? She sounded more like a Bourbon girl to me. Nicely written.
@renovatio: Are you sure *you* weren't 'ooieey'? :)
@tr: Hahah! I've done 90 stone cold!
@bm: Or you just have to know how to wear it? :)
@ideasmith: Ty :).
@mt: It was Scotch. Cheap Scotch. She was a very contradictory person. Refused to be pigeonholed :). Ty.
stone cold speedos, eh? doesn't sound good at all.
@TR: Right, shrinkage.
Shall I confess I did not "get it"?
Hearts on sleeves...are you talking about the album? the idiom?
what should I keep safe?
Heart?
Sleeves?
Scotch? (winner by a long mile for me)
Driver's license?
Car keys?
DUI-->Driving Under Inertia?
Oh well...what the hell...
you are *so* not going to drink and drive, young lady.
I've survived a crash DUI, and trust me it was not fun.
@Heh-Heh: Mine was fun. We flew off a hill and almost landed inside the Mysore zoo.
@TR, MT, Heh heh: You're all crazy!
@TR: I was stone cold *sober*! Not the speedo*meter*! Tsk. (I added that bit about slang and metaphors only for you :).
@MT: I dunno how I'm faced with discussions on swimwear but apparently I am :). And you encourage him *sigh*. Nice DUI story though :D. *Then* what happened?
@tmwwt: Hehehe. DUI *with* scotch in the vehicle, you're in the can :). Unless you're dead of course. Re: what you should keep safe, I'd suggest sanity (cos as you can see from the examples in front of you here it's not a great idea to lose it).
@heh heh: I'm assuming you're talking to the girl *in the story* who is *not* me :). You've gotta temme the crash DUI story though (as a cautionary tale :D).
oh i'm all for slang and metaphors. just that the thought of touching ninety stone cold speedos makes me go all borat.
"and thees? what ees thees?"
Sheesh :). Didn't like the movie all that much. Was so-so. Gimme Monty anyday.
screw the movie, seen the tv serial? monty's the rare exception where the original tv serial isn't dwarfed by the movie. not so for many other acts of genius (ref: "bean").
Actually I loved the movies!
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