Soundtrack

Cue: Violins.

Hi, my names Carlos. Spanish you’re thinking? No, I’m called Carlos because my mum got pregnant on the Spanish island of Mallorca when she was eighteen. She thinks my father’s name was Carlos or Carlo or Chico or Cristiano. I’ve never met him, all I’ve seen is a faded photo of mum with her arms around a young Spanish lad. To be honest, with my mum, at eighteen she was drunk most of the time….actually she still is, it could have been any of them, or all of them, and then some. Anyway, who needs a dad after all? They’re overrated as far as I can see. Most of my mate’s dads, either beat them, or their mums, or both. They all bugger off eventually anyway, I just skipped the painful bit….can’t miss what you don’t have.

I live my life to a soundtrack that plays out in my head….maybe that’s the Spanish in me, who knows, that’s just how it is, how I am….welcome to my world.

Cue: Mission impossible theme.

I lay in my bunk and wait for the guard to do his final check round before lights out. His names Julian, and as I’ve discovered, to my advantage, he has a bit of a liking for skinny twenty year old men with a bit of a Mediterranean look about them. Looks like my dad came in useful after all. It was during one of our “meetings”.

Cue: Anything by Barry White. 

Cue: The great pretender by Queen.

Cue: Man I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain.

Cue: There’s No Other Way by Blur

I was able to acquire his pass card. It gives full access to the entire facility. They are so confident no one will ever break out of this place they only ever put one guard on duty at any one time. Even if someone managed to break out it’s built on an isolated island ten miles from the mainland. The currents in the sea around the island are so strong, drowning is almost inevitable…almost.

Cue: Mission impossible theme (again).

I count to four hundred.

Cue: Patience by Take That.

Julian flicks off the light in the corridor right on cue. Everything’s going to plan. Sliding from my bunk I gently lift the lid on the toilet cistern. Neatly wedged underneath it is Julian’s missing pass card. I’m confident there’s no way he reported it missing.

Cue: Dirty little secret by Bon Jovi.

Cue: Mission impossible theme (again).

Reaching back under my pillow I grab the bananas I ‘acquired’ from the canteen. I’m going to need all the energy I can get if this is going to work. Stuffing them in, I flush the skins down the toilet. I slip my hand between the bars and slide the card through the slot. It bleeps quietly and the door opens with a satisfying swoosh.

Cue: Freedom by George Michael (acoustic version).

Cue: Let’s Go by Calvin Harris Feat. Ne-Yo.

Looking up and down the corridor the highly polished marble floor tiles reflect the dull glow of the smoke alarms which appear on the ceiling every two or three meters….ok, so they don’t mind us drowning but they don’t want us to die in a fire? The marble feels icy cold on my bare feet. Compared to the padded floor of my cell.

Cue: The theme from Frozen (Let it go).

I move silently to the doors that lead to the main corridor. By now I know the CCTV will have caught me so I move as fast as I can.

Cue: Speed demon by Michael Jackson.

The main corridor is darker and moonlight reaches in through the thick un-openable glass windows that pierce the chunky stone walls, lighting the way for me. The music plays on.

Cue: Dancing in the moonlight by Toploader.

I was hoping I would be further along the main corridor before the alarms went off…I was wrong. So I sprint for the exit. It’s the one we use every day when we take exercise. I can hear Julian’s heavy boots pounding the tiled floor behind me. Stop! he’s shouting. There’s nowhere to run! He says as he rounds the bend and gets me in his sights.

Cue: Make you feel my love by Adele.

Cue: Stay with me by Sam smith.

Cue: It ain’t over till It’s over by Lenny Kravitz.

The doors slide open and the heat of the night smacks me in the face. The heat wave had lasted for six weeks and showed no signs of stopping. It’s what I’d been waiting for. Heat waves mean high air pressure, high air pressure means calm seas. I turn and get a glimpse of Julian. His face red his cuffs shining from his belt.

Cue: If I could turn back time by Cher.

Cue: I should have known better by The Beetles.

Cue: Never Again by Kelly Clarkson.

There’s nothing else to think about, this was the part of my plan that I knew, if I stopped to think about, I wouldn’t go through with. I take one last look at Julian and take a deep breath.

Cue: Don’t look back in anger by Oasis.

Cue: It’s now or never by Elvis Presley.

I sprint through the intense heat along the gravel path. The path that leads to nowhere. Nowhere, but my freedom, as long as I keep running.

Cue Never Going Back Again by Fleetwood Mac.

Cue: Keep on running by The Spencer Davis group.

Cue: Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads.

I can hear my feet barely touching the gravel I’m moving so fast. I can’t hear the sea.

Cue: All Dried Up? By Phantogram.

That’s a good thing right? I can’t hear the sea. No crashing waves or heavy swells. I keep sprinting, my lungs are nearly bursting with exhaustion.

Cue: Between Two Lungs by Florence and the Machine.

Cue: Breathe by The Prodigy.

As I reach the end of the path I know in this moment things will never be the same for me again. As the path disappears from beneath my feet and I’m surrounded by hot, dark sky, my world turns to slow motion. My legs uncontrollably still running, I see tiny white specks underneath me in the darkness. Gulls on the surface of the sea.

Cue: In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins.

Cue: Free Falling by Tom Petty.

Cue: Parachutes by Coldplay.

Cue: Stop by the Spice Girls.

Cue: Wet Hair by Japendroids.

Cue: Blue Ocean Floor by Justin Timberlake.

Cue: Night swimming by R.E.M.

Cue: Long Road Home by Sheryl Crow.

Cue: Head above water by Avril Lavigne.

Cue: The end by The Doors.