C'est la vie, Rhymeon [great book club books .TXT] 📗

The clock on the dashboard flashed, 4:30pm. They still had just over an hour of driving to get to Kerswick, their first stop.
Behind the green fresh fields of Kendal upon which sheep and cattle were grazing nonchalantly, was a beautiful sunset that made the scenery appear as if were a poster, designed to lure more people to visit and explore the wonders of the Lake District. The sun’s rays illuminated the hills with a soft hue that blended all the chalk quarries, farm houses, fields, granite rockeries and other contrasting features into one post-card perfect image. Tim had never seen anything like it in London, this would be the first trip away with his new girlfriend Katie and so he was pleased that the sun was giving its best effort because Kate was just in an awe-induced trance. He had visited the Lake District a dozen times before and with each visit it appeared to be more beautiful that the last. The early sunset was obvious evidence of the impending winter; the plan had been to enjoy these views from the rough-comfort of a tent with nice hot chocolate drink on top of a cliff. Regardless of weather, how could anyone not look forward to a romantic weekend getaway?

The day hadn’t started according to plan, low pressure in one of the front tyres had resulted in a frantic rush to find a garage with an air pump that worked. This resulted in him not being able to pick up Kate from her house in Tottenham, north London at 10am as planned. He got to Kate’s house at 11:15 only to find she wasn’t packed yet although she had assured him that she would be ready to go by the time he got to her. Annoyed as he was, he tried to not say too much because starting a day trip angry with each other would be a recipe for disaster, besides it was not really her fault she had never done this sort of thing before, high heels just weren’t going to work. She had to pack more water proofs.

It was in complete darkness when they got to Kerswick which lies right in the heart of the Lake District, the dashboard clock now read 5:43 pm. After a burger and darts game to stretch the muscles they were back in the car, ready to head off on the last leg.

Driving in the darkness, it was only satnav that knew where exactly they were, the pitch black was disturbed only by the 8 year old Ford Focus estate’s headlights, a car Tim had bought from a friend emigrating to New Zealand. It had been a reliable runner which had out stayed quite a few so-called girlfriends. Besides the sporadic beams of on-coming traffic there were no cars either behind or in front. As they approached the Bassenthwaite Hills about 60miles from Kerswick, the car was engulfed in a thick fog. It was like entering scene in a horror movie, psychopathic killers waiting to seize upon any mistake and strike. With zero visibility the drive had become both dangerous but childishly exciting for Tim, as the engine struggled with the upward road incline he put all his concentration into keeping the car on the road. He imagined that it was a video game obstacle course the only difference being he couldn’t restart if he car crashed, in fact he just couldn’t afford to crash the car. Kate was scared, afraid of being stranded if something happened but Tim’s boyish macho-ness was determined to show that it was okay and he could handle this.

The Bassenthwaite camp site was deserted when they arrived at 19:54, this was perfect for Tim, he loved this site for its secluded romantic feel. They had missed the Bassenthwaite sunset but dawn would be even more spectacular after an evening around a romantic camp-fire just talking.

“Kate...Kate! I can’t find the tents, I remember loading them into the car last night but, they are not there.”
“Oh no, are sure they are not there, where will we sleep?” Kate responded, running to the back of the car where Tim stood rummaging through all the bags and coats in the boot. “Did you actually load them into the car? Maybe you forgot.”
“I definitely loaded them, in fact I saw them this morning,” Tim said, “The frames are there but the blue tent and the green striped tent covers to go onto the frames are missing, in fact the sleeping bags aren’t there either.”
“Oh, no!” Kate shouted and immediately burst into tears with her hand over her mouth.
Tim was just wondering what he had got himself into this time. It had been his idea that they go camping, he didn’t know that he would end up on top a cliff in darkness with not only nothing but coats for warmth and a car to sleep in but also a 29 year old woman hollering like a toddler. Worst case camping scenario ever, it had to be.
“Don’t cry sweetie, it wasn’t your fault... I probably misplaced them or something.” He tried to console her, fighting his own impatience.
“Yes it was.”
“What?”
“It was my fa... fa... fault, I... I... I did it.” Kate was now crying uncontrollably. Tim was happy that at least there was no one around because she was wailing like dogs do when they get injured. If anyone heard her crying, surely they would have him arrested because besides Kate, there was no way anyone human could cry like that unless they had been physically harmed.

At 33years of age, Tim was at a stage where he felt he had to ask serious questions about his life and which direction it was going. Ten years earlier, he thought he would have been married by the he got to 30, maybe even with some naughty kids of his own. He always enjoyed the stories told by his work colleagues of how their kids were running amok and causing them all sorts of problems. One couple had even resorted to taking turns to stay with the kids at weekends just so that at least one of them would enjoy the weekend. That’s the kind of partnership he would want with his future wife, they would be looking out for one another and making beautiful sacrifices like that, strengthening their commitment to each other. He didn’t want to have problematic kids, but it is the challenge he wanted. He wanted to show that he was a man capable of keeping his family together avoiding all chaos, he felt ready but it was not all just up to him.

Tim knew he needed someone who shared the same priorities in life, to be a better person, unselfish and nurturing. He had known Kate for a month and was still finding out a lot of new things about her, he knew she was a principled woman who had respect for everyone, an honest character and now he also knew she cried like a wolf.

“Just before we left the pub in Kerswick...I went to get a jumper from my bag... in the boot. I had to move other things out of the way so I took some bags out and put them on the ground... I think I left them there and didn’t put them back in the car.” With that she resumed her wailing.

“Its okay, don’t cry sweetie, we can think of something, let us sit inside the car or we will freeze out here. This is part of the adventure.” Tom tried to joke, but even he was so dispirited that it didn’t sound genuine at all.

It was too cold to sleep in the car so they had to get back to Kerswick, to pick up their abandoned equipment if it was still there. If there had been any adventure about this drama it was all lost now because the prospect of driving back through the fog no longer as appealing as it had before. Tim thought how strange it was that he did not want to drive back now, but had he been asked to do as soon as they arrived before they knew the bags were missing he would have happily done so. The same scenario but just because they had no choice about the matter it felt much harder to do.

At 21:16 in the middle of the fog, Tim had to stop the car. It was struggling to pull its weight and the steering had become very heavy. He got out and walked around the car. Using the light from his mobile phone he could see the front driver’s side tyre was nearly flat. Tim kicked it for being the same tyre that had given him problems in the morning, it probably had been punctured but he just hadn’t realised and the problem had come back to bite him. He was very thankful at this moment that Kate had fallen asleep because he felt he just didn’t have the strength or will to deal with another wailing episode. After a quick call to the roadside recovery agency, arrangements where in place for them to be picked up and placed in a nearby hotel and the car towed for a wheel change the next morning out of the fog hazard.

As Tim lay bed that night, he thought of the camping trip that never was. He had put in a lot of preparation for the trip, servicing the car, planning travel times and stops, buying the equipment and organising activities, all to please the number one lady in his life. All that effort and the day had seemingly been wasted.

He thought of his own life. At 18 he had planned to go to university and study to become a doctor. He had to drop out in the 2nd year because he couldn’t match the work rate that the course demanded and was failing assessments as a result. He graduated at 23 with a degree in sociology instead and found work in at his local council the following year. Natasha, his girlfriend of 6 years left him after an argument about where he should keep his tennis rackets, it was not really the reason, they had both seen it coming for months but the rackets served as the vehicle that got it all out. Deflated, he had spent nearly 10 years in and out of meaningless relationships looking for fulfilment that was absent right from the start for most of them. Then he met Kate, she was an enigma, so honest and free that all her imperfections were flawless. She was the one, she had to be.

The day trip had been a metaphor of his own life, prepare as he might, there were things that were just out of everyone’s control. There had been phases when he felt lost and doomed to failure it appeared to last what felt like a life time but it came to pass. Emerging from one storm often he seemed to enter another, he felt like giving up, but it was not an option, that fog too, came to pass. Tim appreciated that flat-tyres would be a constant feature of life, sometimes in the midst of another crisis but it was important to keep perspective of the items of value and importance and to share these with someone.
Tim was pleased to have shared the experience with Kate, unpleasant as it was; they had got through it together.

“Kate,...Kate are you awake?”
“I guess I am.”
“We must tell this story to our kids one day!”