Midnight
View
Written by Joseph Morrison
The view
from the passenger window of the Beetle wasn’t great, considering that they
were ploughing along a forest track at night. One thing that surprised Amy was
how recklessly Hallie was driving. She wasn’t someone who normally threw caution
to the wind, especially if she was driving. But now, she was tearing down
county roads and dirt tracks without a care in the world. It was as if where
they were going was the most important destination in the world. Amy checked
the clock just above the radio. Half Eleven. She had been baffled when Hallie
had phoned her, asking her to get ready in fifteen minutes, that they were
going somewhere. She had tried to ask just what was going on. But Hallie had
remained surprisingly guarded, which had been a little bit of a shock
considering that three hours ago she’d been laughing with her over cocktails.
In fact, this was so unlike Hallie, she was rather shocked.
“Are we
on the right road?” Hallie’s question broke Amy out of her musings. She pointed
the torch down to the map, carefully looking at where they’d come from. The
headlights cast out a shaft of light, but only up to a certain point. After
that, they had to guess what was beyond them.
“I
think so,” she decided. “But if I knew where we were going, I’d probably be
more accurate.” Hallie didn’t say anything. Silence once more settled on the
car. The only sound that could be heard was that of the engine, and their
bouncing along the road. Even the cassette of synth-pop they’d been listening
to had stopped, having played the last beat on the tape. They continued for a
good few miles, bouncing along various paths and tracks. Amy was sure some of
the paths they took were illegal. Eventually, Hallie pulled the map off Amy’s
knee, and seemed to be checking it against the landscape. After a mile or so,
the car slowed to a halt, pulling up on the top of a large ridge. At first, Amy
wondered why they had bothered to stop. There was nothing remotely remarkable
about where they had stopped; it was just a ridge that looked over some fields.
However, it wasn’t until she looked up that she saw it. The sight of the night
sky took her breath away. Up above her was the sight of thousands of tiny
pinpricks of light, shining out across the night sky. The sight was utterly
spellbinding. Hallie had got out, and was pulling the cover away over the roof
of the car. With the roof down, the view was even more magnificent. Hallie
opened the Beetle’s boot, producing lamps that she scattered around before
lighting them. Amy was amazed. On the phone, Hallie seemed to be acting upon a spontaneous
impulse like normal, but all this: the maps with the red drawing pin in the
spot where they now were, the lanterns, it all felt planned. Like she knew what
she was doing. Like she’d been thinking about this for ages. Amy opened the
passenger door and stepped out of the car. As she did so, she shivered. It was
a little cold up here, and she hadn’t brought a jumper or even a jacket. Her
sleeveless top wasn’t ideal for letting the cold in. Hallie passed her
something.
“Here.
I thought you might be a little cold.” It was a woollen blanket. Deciding
enough was enough, Amy turned to face her friend.
“Look,
what’s going on Hallie. You drag me out here, not telling me where we’re going or
what we’re doing when we get there. You act like it’s a spontaneous thing, but
you’ve got a map and lanterns and blankets. You-“ she paused, almost struggling
to breath. “Look, I just want to know what all this is about,” she continued,
calmer now. Hallie was looking down at her sneakers, unable to say anything.
Amy could see she’d upset her friend, but she just didn’t understand what all
this was about. “Hallie, I just don’t understand. Why am I here?”
“I…
I just…” Hallie spluttered over her words, unable to speak. There was something
she wanted to say, but found herself unable to.
“What?”
Amy asked. “What is it?” Now Hallie had fallen silent again. “Look, if you want
to say something, just say it.” Hallie said nothing, just stared at her sneakers
again. Amy took a long breath. She had to find out why Hallie had been so
determined to bring her here. Sure, the view was pretty, and it was quiet and
isolated, but, apart from that, she couldn’t understand why she was there. She
decided enough was enough. She jumped back in the car, not bothering with the
door. Sliding into the backseat, she motioned for Hallie to join her. Hallie
seemed reluctant at first, but Amy didn’t relent.
“Come
on, come here.” Eventually, Hallie followed her, pulling herself up into the
backseat like Amy had done. She slipped down onto the backseat, and rested as
far away from Amy as she could manage. But Amy wasn’t going to let her off the
hook that easily. She pretty much pulled her along the seat, until she was sat
virtually in her lap. Amy placed her arm around Hallie, and pulled the blanket
over the pair of them. Hallie was very still for a moment, not daring to move.
At first, Amy expected her to pull away, to say they were being silly, and to
gather up the lanterns and leave. Instead, she set her face up to the sky,
looking into the stars that shone brightly above them. And then, to Amy’s
surprise, she took Amy’s hand in her own. She held it, tightly, not wanting to
let go. Amy was astonished, not because of what Hallie had done, but because of
what Hallie was feeling. It was a simple thing, but in that moment, Amy
realised that Hallie felt the same way. She looked at Hallie, thinking how she
must have been dancing around her, trying to gauge how she felt, in the same
way that Amy had been doing with Hallie. And now, Amy understood what they were
doing there. Why Hallie had been so prepared. Why she’d found this spot, with its
beautiful view of the stars. Amy leaned in, and kissed Hallie lightly on the
cheek. Hallie turned to face her, her eyes wet with tears. And Amy noticed
that, now, she was crying too. They weren’t tears of sadness, but rather joy.
They were the tears that told Amy how much Hallie had dreamt about these
feelings paying off. Hallie went to speak, but Amy silenced her. She didn’t
need to say anything. Amy reached up to Hallie’s eyes, and dried them with her
fingers. Hallie was hesitant at first, not sure if it was all a trick. Then,
she reached up, and dried Amy’s tears. Their make-up was smudged, but they didn’t
care. All that mattered was each other. Hallie folded herself up under Amy’s
arm, hers entangled around Amy’s waist. They looked up at each other, and then,
turned their attention to the same points of light, glowing more brightly upon
them than ever before. They were together now, and even those small orbs seemed
tiny and trivial in comparison to the fact that they were together.
Comments
Post a Comment