At our monthly Writing is Fun meetings we decide a prompt for writing for the next meeting. Length is set at 2 pages so we can read them at the meeting. There is quite a diversity of writing. Some are real life recollections, some fictional vignettes, and sometimes there's a poem.
The prompt for July 2022 was Speed. Here's what I wrote. A little true, a little not.
The Excitement of Speed– Carol Kagan
July, 2022
It was a dark and stormy night. The
Friday regulars from the University made it to Testani’s Restaurant before the
deluge. Steph and Donna, freed from the antiseptic smell and bright lights of
the lab, loved that they were invited by the Air Force students to join them. Dim lights,
aromas of pasta and garlic, the low murmur of voices and clinking of bar
glasses greeted them. They filled the table in the back near the kitchen.
Mario came over. Drinks first. Doc
James had his usual Tanqueray gin on the rocks with an olive. The Air Force guys
went with various brands of beer. Steph and Donna ordered a glass of house red.
But Jon, the prissy rich-kid riding out the summer working in the lab, had just
turned 21.
“It’s my birthday,” he called out, glancing at Steph. “I’d
like to have ‘Sex on the Beach’.” One of the current popular drinks.
Laughter ensued. He would loudly tell
Mario that several more times and each time he looked over at Steph
When dinner was over, the tables were
cleared, and another round of drinks ordered. Steph knew her limit and switched
to soda. The Air Force students and Donna would be walking over to the Reed
Hall dorms and ordered more drinks. Doc James was finishing his second gin.
And Jon said longingly,
“I want to have ‘Sex on the Beach’.”
Ann Testani swung open the kitchen
door carrying a full tray of pasta dishes and a piece of tiramisu with a
candle.
“So we keep hearing. No beach here, but there’s free dessert,
birthday boy.”
After the song was sung, he
dramatically made a silent wish, blew out the candle, and turned his head to
Steph. Doc James threw two twenties on the table and left to drive home.
Everyone else wanted to wait out the rain.
After dinner talk got started when
the movie Top Gun was mentioned. “I have the need … the need for speed,” was
called out. This got the fighter jet stories rolling from the Air Force guys -
Capt. Jim Ryan, known as “Skip,” and the other pilots, Jason “Rico” Shay and
Ray “Bans” King.
“When I am speeding up high and wide,” Jason growled,
swirling his arms around, “I hate to decelerate to take the tight turns. Losing
speed.”
“For me, the speed is exhilarating, exciting,” said Ryan, “but
there’s that bone-crushing price to pay when you hit the deck, grab the wires,
and slam forward for the stop.”
The stories continued until someone
came in and announced the rain had stopped. The Air Force guys and Donna headed
out leaving Jon and Steph. Jon had too much ‘Sex on the Beach’ and couldn’t
drive home.
“I’d ask you to take me home, but the Jaguar is manual, a
stick shift.”
Steph sighed, noticing he had to mention he had a Jaguar. “I
can drive a stick shift.”
When they opened the door to leave,
it was pouring rain again. The car was, of course, protectively parked far away
from everything else. They ran through the flooded lot and wasted time as Jon
fumbled for the key.
“I’m driving. I’ll open the doors,” she said, grabbing the keys. He stood there.
"Wheels on the other side." She ran around, opened the door and slid in.
They were in the car. Both soaked
all the way through, water dripping onto the leather seats. They sat there, cold,
and slightly out of breath.
As she started the car she told Jon. “I’ve got this. Just sit back and relax. I know where you live.” Then she began talking to herself.
"Wheel's over here. Focus. Thank goodness this is the original
gearshift knob; five gears AND with a diagram. Let’s see if I can get the feel
for this clutch.”
Deep breath. Pushing in the clutch.
Pulling the shift left and back. Slow release on the clutch, a slight press of
the gas. A few hops, then okay. By the time they got to the street she had the
hang of it. At the beltway entrance, accelerating to merge was oh, so fast;
zero to sixty in seconds. Faster than she had ever driven. The lights turned
rain into shining diamonds.
For Steph, this was exciting. All that talk about speed and she was speeding around the beltway. There wasn’t much traffic on the beltway. Shifting gears, the engine revving as she watched the RPM’s rise and dip and rise again Just a little faster. Shifting again and smooth on the clutch. Jon was slumped in his seat. She was sitting straight up, following the headlights as they lit up the lines on the road. Feeling so excited, so light, like rising in a jet.
“Christ! How fast are you going?” Jon bolted up and
shouted, “One hundred and twenty!! Get
off the gas! We’re hydroplaning!. Ease off! Don’t brake. Hold tight to the
wheel!”
Steph saw that the front end of the
car had lifted from the road. Only the back wheels touched. She eased off, held
the wheel tight and steady but the exit was just ahead. As the front end
floated down, she made a wide turn, using the full width of the exit and a
little more. They eased out onto Northern Avenue and crept along at the speed
limit. Steph’s adrenaline still pulsing.
Pulling into the driveway, Jon
reached over and pressed a button, raising the garage door. She slowly moved
the car inside.
“I am soaked through to the skin,” she said. “I’ve got to
get this stuff off and dry. Let’s get inside.”
They headed into the house and began to peel off their clothes. Jon thought to himself “Maybe my birthday wish will come true tonight.”
# # # #
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