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“Let Me Go” by Dawn Green
Even now it pains me to think of that date.
It was supposed to be a simple weekend in New England. But it turned out to be the mother of all bad dates. I had just climbed into the car when he launched into his little litany. “I don’t mean to sound preachy, but I wear my seatbelt all the time, and I recommend you do the same”. “I guess I am your child,” I thought to myself.
And so it went. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but then we got lost. “You were supposed to make the left somewhere down the road,” I patiently explained. “Hey, we took a left somewhere. In the night, you can’t expect my memory to be perfect! Some kind of friend you are!” he sniffed. I didn’t realize we’d progressed that far.
We were arguing and then “KER THUNK”, the car hit something and stopped off the side of the road overlooking a small river. “Well, it can’t be too far to walk, can it?” he says making a VERY feeble attempt at humor. I am ticked. “No, I don’t want to walk! Without you, I would be safe at home right now!” “OK, let me look at the car” he replies gamely.
After several minutes under the hood, I was starting to feel sorry for him. But only a bit. Finally, he was ready to take a chance again starting the car. But like a dolt, he forgot the clutch, and the car lurched forward and hurtled into the river. KER SPLASH!!
“At least there won’t be any ships coming through here” he had the nerve to say as we sat in the middle of a stream in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. The car is a mess and looks like we made it out of aluminum foil. Boy, does he have a story for his insurance adjuster.
The situation was starting to be serious. Still, Mr. Excitement was calm, “Let's hang on for a few minutes to see if anyone comes before we try to make a break for it.” I didn’t have to be persuaded, it was cold and my foot was completely asleep and I was rubbing it trying to get the feeling again.
Then we noticed the water seeping into the car. Yikes!! We scrambled out the window and onto the roof. He tried to make a humorous remark but I was livid. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I have just gotten THIS CLOSE to getting drowned, I can’t smile. Without you, I could be at home watching that TV movie Copacabana right now eating popcorn with a crackling fire in the background.” “You mean Casablanca, don’t you?” Arghh!!!
We’d been sitting on the roof awhile, and my mind started to wander. I thought I saw a white beanie baby with iridescent wings in the water. Could it be Magic, the dragon? We’d better get rescued soon or I’d go crazy. With our luck, we would have to wait till daybreak until someone comes.
He has a bright idea. “Let’s make some noise, jump, shout, boogie all night!” “You’re crazy!!, I exclaim as it starts to rain and I slowly freeze to death. Once, I made it through the rain by hiding under a tree. But there is nothing to hide under. Just when I start thinking what a way to go, we hear a voice.
“It’s a miracle!”, I thought as the singing grew louder. It was certainly not the voice of pop princess Mandy Moore. Instead, it was an older guy and from his accent, he sounded like he was from New York City. Rhythm was definitely not his strong suit. The music was old; songs I hadn’t heard in awhile, thankfully. But we couldn’t afford to be choosy when it comes to being rescued.
We hailed him and he fished us out of the river. “I got new songs too. I write the songs and sing them too.” He proudly told us. We pretended we were interested and he thrust me a sheaf full of sheet music, “Read 'em and weep", he snorted.
Mr. Music dropped us off and finally the end was near. “Oh, Julie, remember when I wanted you to walk back in the rain? I’m sorry about that. Here, have a cookie.” He took a soggy cookie out of his pocket, broke it, and offered me the smaller piece. “Here, this one's for you.” “Eeewww” I said, utterly repulsed. Some people never learn.
The End
Dedicated to my sister-in-law, LM, the big Barry fan.
