The Hitchhiker

2

Tomorrow came too early for Hallie's liking. She groaned as her alarm went off, but forced herself to get up and ready. She had a shower- who knew when she’d next get the chance to wash- and had a good breakfast. Her bag was all packed and her mum had printed out directions to York. She sure as hell wouldn’t need it, but it was nice all the same.

Apparently Darton to Widecombe was a 6 hour journey on the M5 and M6. Hallie somehow doubted for this; the roads would be extra busy right now. Still, she had about six days to spare. That would be plenty of time, and she could even stop in London and do the tourist thing. She was brimming with excitement as she put the key in the ignition and buckled up her seat belt.

‘Remember what I told you. Call-’

‘Call every day and don’t talk to strangers,’ Hallie completed the phrase that had been drilled into her mind over breakfast. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.’

Her mother nodded, still worried, but that was her job: to worry. ‘I love you,’ she said.

‘Love you too,’ Hallie called, as she started her beloved Lee. Cheerily, she waved, and then- she was off!

The roads were familiar, but her outlook was different. She wasn’t thinking about her past in this town. She was thinking about her future outside it.

She put on her loudest CD and rolled the windows down. She was 18; she was allowed to be obnoxious and loud and free. Because she was.

It wasn’t warm but it wasn’t cold. It was that pleasant time of year when the weather can’t quite make up its mind, so the breeze was cool but the sun was out and shining. It’s shining for me, Hallie decided. That was definitely a good sign. The roads were good here too, she noted. In Darton they were all potholes and turnouts, but here they were smooth and wide and just aching to be driven on.

So drive on them she did.

By 11am she was out of the county. This was new territory. Sure, she’d been away from Darton before. Holidays, days out, even school trips. But there had always been strict rules and regulations. She had never been in charge. Now she was limitless as the sky and as free as the sea. In the grand scheme of things, six days was nothing. But for her, it would do just fine.

After half an hour, Hallie wasn’t entirely sure where she was. She was a good driver but terrible at map-skills. Still, she figured getting lost was part of the experience, and she didn’t want to stop driving just yet. So she didn’t. She ended up on some little river, in a town not unlike Darton. Yet completely different. To her, it was alien and strange and exciting, but it was someone else’s cage. Someone out there was as bored as this town as she was of Darton. Someone knew every inch of this place, from the park to the petrol station. This was people’s lives; this was people’s home.

And she just drove on through.

Eventually she ended up back on an A Road. According to the signs, she was still heading in the general Southerly direction. It was pretty hard to get completely lost in England. However, a map would probably be good.

One of the signs pointed to York. Momentarily, Hallie felt guilty for lying. Her mum trusted her and she just blatantly ignored it. But it was the only way she could do something like this. Otherwise it would be Darton and university and then work all her life, with no excitement. Now, at least, she had an aim.

Maybe Grandpa Joe was going a bit senile in his old age. The thought had struck her, and the doubt chewed away at the back of her mind. But there was other evidence. She just had to find it. She could contact the website, even talk to people on the road.