130: Night Run

It was a cold morning in March, my phone was constantly beeping on my desk with insistence as it kept its flashlight blinking towards the roof of my room. I would soon get up from my bed and feel sluggish as I made my way towards the desk; One quick look at my phone screen showed that it was already 5:00AM.

I looked at the day on the screen with a soft smile on my face, knowing that it was my birthday… I didn’t expect to wake up with a pile of gifts under my bed, much less a party or chocolate cake on the table. But as I washed my face on the sink, I took another look at the phone… surely there were lots of happy birthday wishes from friends and family, and… 50€ from my old man.

Soon enough; I would have breakfast and make my way back to my room to pick up my backpack containing some food and ice cold water. There was also the selfie stick and a small power bank for my phone; with my checklist cleared, I grabbed my car keys and made my way to the garage. It hadn’t been long since my friends already sent me the rendezvous point which I would have to reach quickly.

Where was I going so early in the morning? Right towards a hill climb rally deep in the mountains, at least an hour away from home. I knew well that I had an hour of trip ahead, but there was also the pressure of having to make it to my desired spot before the roads around the event closed to traffic, and so… I got straight to warm up the engine.

“Remember me-Leslie Parrish” That was the song that played on the radio as the glow plugs did their work. My car soon shook with a loud groan as it awakened from it’s peaceful slumber. I saw the brief  smoke cloud that emerged from the exhaust as I slowly reversed out of the garage, I knew well it was a cold start but… for now I still had one stop to do before getting to the rendezvous point.

Soon enough, I locked the garage door behind myself and left the house with the whirr of the engine at full throttle. It was a short drive away to the gas station, but I knew well to stop for some more snacks and water… As well get some more diesel in my tank, some air in the tires… and take the chance for a quick hosedown in case we took pictures at the rendezvous point.

Soon enough, I would admire my car seeing it’s black color shining in the dark against the bright red and dark blue neon lights of the gas station. But knowing well I had around 100 km ahead of me and an hour of travel… I soon got back into the car and made my way towards the highway, determined to get to the rendezvous as fast as I could.

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It was a relaxing drive to say the least; an empty highway that was devoid of any traffic, Mcfly-The end playing on the speakers… I felt comfortably cradled in my seat as the 1.9 hummed calmly under the hood, inviting me to just keep on cruising on the middle lane. 1-2 trucks would often appear on the slow lane as I would overtake them without a hassle.

Kilometers and Kilometers of straight that seemed to stretch into the horizon, a road that would soon become empty of any traffic… Then the music seemed to encourage me into giving in, it was safe enough to do it at this hour of the morning and this specific day…the burning question within my mind begged to be answered at full throttle.

And so… I gave in to the temptation knowing there were no speed cameras in my path, the needles kept climbing faster as the 1.9 under the hood growled angry and eager to please, the turbo whistled into the next gear change as the engine began to buzz louder at the limit… I was briefly pushed hard against the seat, feeling a small flash of fear as I neared the redline but then… I felt a strange soothing trance washing over my frightened body.

For a reason I still didn’t know, the other vehicles seemed to be standing still as I went by them. I couldn’t get myself to lift the foot off the pedal as the engine kept pushing ahead, seemingly unfazed by the wall of air in front of it. By the time I dared to look at the instrument panel again… I smiled, having felt that burning question finally answered once and for all.

45 minutes… that was all it took for me to reach the rendezvous point, I soon slowed down hearing that loud buzzing under the hood slowly becoming quieter. My sights changed from an empty highway devoid of traffic and empty fields on either side… to country roads, trucks, cars and houses… which would soon become busy and labyrinthine city roads that were yawning as they woke up.

Soon enough, my car slowly rolled into the gas station as if just a few minutes ago it hadn’t been driven at full throttle. By the time I raised the handbrake and allowed the car to Idle and cool down… I couldn’t wipe out the smile on my face as I checked my phone once again, I texted back and declared I had been the first to reach the rendezvous point.

There were replies showing surprise, disbelief… Some even showed amazement at how early I was, my friends were still at their home reading the morning newspaper and sipping on their coffees as I was submerged on that trance earlier… For now, I had plenty of time to kill until they caught up with me, and so… I finally turned off the engine for a quick cold cola at the bar in the building.

Would my adventure finish here? I knew well that the day had just started.