Twenty-One.

They sat at one of the small rustic table-benches provided for weary city dwellers at one of the wood cabin diners - ingenuously named The Park Diner - near the car park. Alison was trying to cheer Ray up. She’d started to berate him on shattering the tranquility of the woods when he’d blurted out that he’d been fired. He was now sulking and she was worried that he was more concerned with having to move state - away from her - than with having to find another job. She tried to put him off.

`Well, that’s two of us off to better places then. Who knows where I’ll go when my time here is over.’ She had a devil-may-care lilt in her voice.

He looked up from the whorl on the wood,`whatdafuckjamean?’ his language was raw street in his emotional state. He quickly noted her raised eyebrows and repeated `sorry, I mean, where are you going?’ his face was slightly flushed.

`I’ll have finished my project come October,as you knew, and then I’m off - to start real life.’she shook her head, her pony tail flirting with the sun before landing gently on her shoulder. He watched it relax and looked up into her bright eyes. He lost his words for a second. He didn’t know how to play the scene.

He stood `I’ve got to go’ he blurted, smiled a sketchy farewell and took off in the direction of the cars. A moment later an engine could be heard gunning down the trail.

Alison looked after him, a veil dropping over her face as she thought of the complicatins he might present. None that would be un-dealable with but nevertheless… her fingernails scratched a signature in the wood of the tabletop. A bird sang from one of the nearest trees and she immediately reacted, light returning to her face as she turned and looked up. The bird spoke again and took flight, soaring across the green blanket and up the hill. Life glowed in alison’s eyes as she picked up her rucksack and set off after it, brushing wood shavings from her nails against her khaki pants as she rose.