Set in a Sedan

It had all seemed so simple; pack up, hop in the sedan, and enjoy the back roads of the county. 

The sun’s rays danced with the dust motes as Oscar and Olivia reversed their sedan out of their one-car garage at the start of their trip. Two steaming travel mugs of coffee sat snug in the centre console cup holders. 

“My lovely, which way should I turn?” Oscar asked at the first stop sign. “Left, right or ahead?”

“Hmm,” Olivia murmured, “Eenie, Meanie, Mynie, Moe, left is where we want to go.”

Oscar flicked the turn signal and looked in all directions before heading left, toward the lake, heading for the highway, leaving their small town in the rear-view mirror.

Just as their mugs of coffee emptied, the sky shuddered, pounding their car with pails of water forcing Oscar to slow and then draw to a stop on the shoulder of the road. 

“Gosh,” Olivia murmured, “it’s coming down like a torrent. I hope it doesn’t last too long.” 

Fear flowed in Olivia’s voice, shaping her words into a silent whisper that was swallowed in the spasm of rain, cracking open a buried box full of traumatic remembrances in Olivia, unknown to Oscar. 

Olivia found herself in the cellar, cold and alone, shivering in her thin shift, head bowed, arms tight around her body, rocking, rocking, rocking, sorrowful sobs releasing from her lips. 

“Olivia?” Oscar shouted, reaching out to pat her shoulder when she moved away. “Livy, my lovely,” Oscar cooed while rubbing her arm, “I can see the sun peering through the clouds. It’ll soon be cleared up.”

As if heaven turned off the sprinkler, the sky blushed blue and Olivia stretched like a cat, turning a smiling face toward Oscar. He dropped a kiss on her cheek, then clicked the sedan into drive, before easing onto the shining surface of the road. 

Tension tightened between Oscar and Olivia. Unasked questions, unspoken secrets weighed heavy in the air as the sedan sped along, gaining speed down each incline, careening around every corner, until, Olivia grasped Oscar’s elbow, her knuckles white, her palm sweaty.

“Hey, Oscar, we’re on a leisurely road trip to who knows where, so how about slowing down and relishing the scenery and our time together?” 

Oscar lifted his foot from the accelerator, signalling right, before coming to a dusty stop on the shoulder. Shutting off the vehicle, he turned to look at Olivia’s profile. 

“What’s up, lovely?” Oscar asked his voice but a whisper. 

His question hovered above Olivia like a little cloud. The silence grew longer and stronger between them. 

“It’s nothing,” Olivia muttered, each word spoken with care, “let’s just keep driving, okay?”

Oscar turned on the engine and shifted to drive, the sedan’s wheels whirling gravel as the car rose onto the asphalt. Several twisty turns, where majestic maples shaded the sun, hemmed in by rock cuts passed by Olivia’s eyes, sight unseen. 

Worry sat like a full tub on her tummy, aching with fear and shame. Tears threatened to crest her eyes, but she blinked and blinked to keep them from escaping. She could feel Oscar’s presence, his wondering, his emotions. 

At the bottom of a steep hill, to the right of a lone stop sign, sat a young man, his head on his backpack. He wore a broad-brimmed hat which he had pulled over his face. A sign lay against his side. “Heading to Huntsville,” it read.

“You’re NOT stopping!?” Olivia stammered, “Hitchhikers are dangerous. Do you want to put us, me in danger?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Oscar chided, impatience sharpening his response, “in my day I hitched and you can’t say I’m dangerous.” 

The sedan drew to a stop beside the man. Oscar pressed Olivia’s window down, 

“Her there, heading to Huntsville, we can give you a lift.”

“So we’re going to Huntsville, now!?” Olivia curled herself away from Oscar toward the door, angling her body so she could see their passenger. 

“Sit behind me,” Oscar directed the man, “throw your backpack on the seat beside you.”

In a fluid moment, the young man grabbed his backpack, sprinted to the sedan, and thrust the driver’s side passenger door open. A scent of fresh grass and adolescent male pheromones tickled Olivia’s nose. 

Oscar put the car in gear and eased the sedan past the stop sign and forward up the road. 

“I’m Oscar and this is my wife Olivia. Glad we could help you.”

Olivia studied the young man from the corner of her eye. 

“Nice to meet you, folks. I’m Shep. Thanks so much for the ride.” 

The deepness of his voice surprised Olivia given his youth. 

Many kilometres rolled beneath the tires as the trio lapsed into companionable silence. 

As they entered the next small town, the sky pulled the curtains, shutting off the light with the wind swirling the leaves. 

Olivia felt Step’s tension. She found calmness in their shared anxiety. 

Turning to face Shep, Olivia noted his hands in fists, his lips taut, and his furrowed brow. 

“I’m not too fond of storms,” Olivia murmured. 

Shep nodded. 

“It brings back bad memories.”

Shep nodded again.

“Want a coffee?” Oscar asked, “My treat.”

“Awful kind of you Oscar,” Shep said, “I’d appreciate a large drip coffee with a bit of cream.”

“Your usual?” 

“Mmm.” 

Oscar parked the car, and opened his door, leaving Olivia and Shep alone.

“So,” Olivia began, “what’s your story?”

After a moment, Shep replied. “Probably as dark as yours, I’d guess.”

“He,” Olivia whispered, “doesn’t know, couldn’t know…”

“Yup.”

“Did you ever tell anyone?”

Shep shook his head.

“Me neither. The people who knew shouldn’t have…”

“Mmm.”

Olivia scrounged in her purse, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper. 

“Here’s my cell phone. Text me, Shep, if you’d like. Maybe we can help each other.”

The warmth of his hand embraced hers as he accepted the folded piece of paper. Olivia observed his shove the paper in the front pocket of his jeans. 

“Glad we stopped to pick you up.”