The Spaceship

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The sun was just getting ready to drop below the mountains and disappear for the night. The sky was streaked with orange, and bright sunlight shone through the pine trees giving the impression a space ship had landed in the woods. It had been a long day and Kelly was yawning as they sped along the motorway. A flock of birds weaved intricate patterns in the sky, going nowhere but doing it in style. Kelly was wondering what it would be like to be a bird, flying high in the sky, drifting on the breeze, looking down at the crazy human race weaving their intricate patterns down on earth.  Yes, she decided she might like that, she’d like the freedom. Anything would be better than being cooped up in this damn car with a man she’d fallen out of love with months before, but who still controlled her life, controlled her every move.

She’d thought that was what she needed when she met him; a nice strong man to take care of her, to stop her from having those thoughts that haunted her now and again. But the problem was she didn’t really know what she wanted. Ever since she jilted Kev at the alter she’d been searching for something but what? Well, she didn’t know. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, when you didn’t even know what a needle looked like.

Life with Kev had been too hectic, the good times were good times - they were times that people might write songs about. But he drank, he womanised, he raised his hand to her. She’d loved him despite the pain he’d caused her but she’d woken up to what everyone else knew on the morning of the wedding.

Of course Kev wasn’t the first guy she’d jilted at the alter, before him there was Graham. He was more Mr Dependable than Marcus and on the morning of that wedding she’d foreseen a future of 2.5 kids and a 2 up 2 down, a life of suburban boredom.

After Kev she thought she needed someone to keep her on the straight and narrow and that was Marcus. Tall, handsome, clever, and strong, Kelly had put her life in his hands. But the problem with the straight and narrow is that it is straight and narrow. She needed twists and turns, she needed the thrill of the switchback. She needed to feel the wind in her hair and the sand between her toes, but Marcus warned her that a draught would cause earache and there might be parasites in the sand.

 ‘I need a wee,’ Marcus said, his first words for nearly an hour.  He pulled into the services, and got out of the car.

‘You coming?’ he said. She shook her head. ‘You want anything?’ he said, another shake.  She watched him walk off and then unclipped her seatbelt. She got out of the car and started her long walk. She didn’t know where or why but she was going to the hills, going to the pine trees, going to find that spaceship.

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