The Drive

“May I watch you?” She asked.

He heard this over the roar of the engine of his latest acquisition, a 1932 Packard Twin Six Phaeton. He looked over his shoulder and saw a small woman standing behind him. 

She smiled at him and said, “I have loved classic cars all my life. My father used to own a few.” 

“Sure, I am just setting the timing on this one. She is a beaut” he said, “and as all beautiful things, she needs work.” 

“I am Shawna” she said as she reached out to offer her hand. 

He raised his hands and said “These are dirty”. 

She smiled and pulled her hand back. 

“I am Manjeet” he said and  dove back under the hood. The roar was back up as he tried to get it to sound right. 

She looked on with an eager curiousity that came from her childhood, when she watched her father tinker around with his cars. 

“That’s right” he said and looked satisfied with the sound of the engine. He turned to her and asked her, “What do you think?” 

She smiled a shy smile and said it sounded wonderful. 

“Are you going to take it out for a test run?” She asked. 

“Yup” he said, “hop on.” 

She went around and got into the car and he followed suit as he wiped his hands on a rag. 

He put the car into gear and accelerated down the open road with a glint in his eye that said “I am the proud owner of this marvellous machine.” 

They drove and drove, just enjoying the open road with the wind in their hair, not a care in the world. Two souls flying through the open road, and everything was just right. 

He was smiling, she was smiling, the joy was shooting out of their radiant smiles. Only those who loved these majestic machines would know the joy that the power of twelve cylinders firing in perfect sychronisation could give you. 

Nothing else mattered, just the road ahead of you and the dust you left behind. The road knew what it had to do and so did they. The happiness they felt was not of this world, it was not always material, and when it found you, you knew that a higher power shone within you to make you feel that way. 

They stopped at a coconut seller’s cart and drank coconut water straight from the coconut. 

This was a day when nothing could go wrong. And nothing did. They talked and laughed and felt happy and at peace. 

They drove back and the ride was conjuring it’s magic. The sun was setting over the hills and the sky was God’s canvas where the drew with His most beloved colours. 

All the money in the world could not buy the happiness this day brought. 

They would remember this day on their wedding day and it would be a story told to their children and grandchildren.

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