As we suspected, David’s car was done for. Not completely beyond repair, but bad (and expensive) enough that the mechanic suggested it wouldn’t be worth doing. And when a mechanic is telling you not to bother, you don’t bother.
We’re lucky in that David only works 20 minutes away and can get a bus there from the end of our road (the buses back are a little trickier, but still doable). The fare is pretty steep – £25 per week – but we’d be saving that on petrol anyway, so fine. In fact, at first I was so blinded by the savings I couldn’t think of anything else. I felt giddy with the prospect of all the spare money.
And then I thought, “But how will we GO anywhere?!”
Getting to school and work is one thing, but what about weekends? Holidays? My family lives an hour’s drive away, but it’s a right pain to get to on the bus.
What about shopping? There aren’t really any supermarkets within reasonable walking distance and there are certainly no independent shops.
Walking home from school with Harry one day, he mentioned Williamson Park in Lancaster. We love it there. We drive over the Trough of Bowland, go to the park and then drive to Morecombe for fish and chips.
Which we eat sitting in the car.
Realising we would no longer be able to head off for days out, I felt bereft.
“What are we going to do about a car?” I asked David.
He shrugged, “What can we do?”
Right.
Okay.
It’ll be… an adventure.
—
Keris Stainton
Debut novel DELLA SAYS: OMG! out now
“Confidence-boosty sex-positive first love goodness. This could be the Forever of the 21st century, girls…” – Susie Day, author of Big Woo! and Girl Meets Cake
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