Michel Faber - The Book of Strange New Things

I was going to say something, he said.

So say it, she said.

He was quiet, keeping his eyes on the road. In the darkness of the citys outskirts, there was nothing to see except the tail-lights of other cars in the distance, the endless unfurling roll of tarmac, the giant utilitarian fixtures of the motorway.

God may be disappointed in me for even thinking it, he said.

Well, she sighed, He knows already, so you may as well tell me.

He glanced at her face, to judge what mood she was in as she said this, but the top half of her head, including her eyes, was veiled in a shadow cast by the edge of the windscreen. The bottom half of her face was lunar bright. The sight of her cheek, lips and chin so intimately familiar to him, so much a part of life as he had known it made him feel a sharp grief at the thought of losing her.

The world looks nicer with man-made lights, he said.

They drove on in silence. Neither of them could abide the chatter of radio or the intrusion of pre-recorded music. It was one of the many ways they were compatible.

Is that it? she said.

Yes, he said. What I mean is Unspoiled nature is supposed to be the ultimate in perfection, isnt it, and all the man-made stuff is supposed to be a shame, just cluttering it up. But we wouldnt enjoy the world half as much if we man that is, human beings

(She gave him one of her get-on-with-it grunts.)

if we hadnt put electric lights all over it. Electric lights are actually attractive. They make a night drive like this bearable. Beautiful, even. I mean, just imagine if we had to do this drive in total darkness. Because thats what the natural state of the world is, at night, isnt it? Total darkness. Just imagine. Youd have the stress of not having a clue where you were going, not being able to see more than a few metres in front of you. And if you were heading for a city well, in a non-technological world there wouldnt be cities, I suppose but if you were heading for a place where other people lived, living there naturally, maybe with a few campfires You wouldnt see them until you actually arrived. There wouldnt be that magical vista when youre a few miles away from a city, and all the lights are twinkling, like stars on the hillside.

Uh-huh.

And even inside this car, assuming you could have a car, or some sort of vehicle, in this natural world, pulled by horses I suppose It would be pitch black. And very cold, too, on a winters night. But instead, look what weve got here. He took one hand off the steering wheel (he always drove with both hands laid symmetrically on the wheel) and indicated the dashboard. The usual little lights glowed back at them. Temperature. Time. Water level. Oil. Speed. Fuel consumption.

Peter

Oh, look! Several hundred metres up ahead, a tiny over-burdened figure, standing in a puddle of lamplight. A hitchhiker. Ill stop, shall I?

No, dont.

The tone of her voice made him think better of challenging her, even though they seldom missed an opportunity to show kindness to strangers.

The hitchhiker raised his head in hope. As the headlights enveloped him, his body was just for an instant transformed from a vaguely humanoid shape into a recognisably individual person. He was holding a sign that said HETHROW.

How strange, said Peter, as they zoomed past. Youd think hed just take the Tube.

Last day in the UK, said Beatrice. Last chance to have a good time. He probably used up his British money in a pub, thinking hed keep just enough for the train. Six drinks later hes out in the fresh air, sobering up, and all hes got left is his plane ticket and 1.70.

It sounded plausible. But if it was true, then why leave this lost sheep in the lurch? It wasnt like Bea to leave anybody stranded.

He turned towards her darkened face again, and was alarmed to see teardrops twinkling on her jaw and in the corners of her mouth.

Peter she said.

He took one hand off the steering wheel again, this time to squeeze her shoulder. Suspended over the highway up ahead was a sign with a symbol of an aeroplane on it.

Peter, this is our last chance.

Last chance?

To make love.

The indicator lights flashed gently and went tick, tick, tick, as he eased the car into the airport lane. The words make love bumbled against his brain, trying to get in, even though there was no room in there. He almost said, Youre joking. But, even though she had a fine sense of humour and loved to laugh, she never joked about things that mattered.

As he drove on, the sense that they were not on the same page that they needed different things at this crucial time entered the car like a discomfiting presence. Hed thought hed felt that yesterday morning had been their proper leavetaking, and that this trip to the airport was just a postscript, almost. Yesterday morning had been so right. Theyd finally worked their way to the bottom of their To Do list. His bag was already packed. Bea had the day off work, theyd slept like logs, theyd woken up to brilliant sunshine warming the yellow duvet of their bed. Joshua the cat had been lying in a comical pose at their feet; theyd nudged him off and made love, without speaking, slowly and with great tenderness. Afterwards, Joshua had jumped back on the bed and tentatively laid one forepaw on Peters naked shin, as if to say, Dont go; I will hold you here. It was a poignant moment, expressing the situation better than language could have, or perhaps it was just that the exotic cuteness of the cat put a protective furry layer over the raw human pain, making it endurable. Whatever. It was perfection. Theyd lain there listening to Joshuas throaty purr, enfolded in each others arms, their sweat evaporating in the sun, their heart-rates gradually reverting to normal.

One more time, she said to him now, above the engine noise on a dark motorway on the way to the plane that would take him to America and beyond.

He consulted the digital clock on the dashboard. He was supposed to be at the check-in counter in two hours; they were about fifteen minutes from the airport.

Youre wonderful, he said. Perhaps if he pronounced the words in exactly the right way, she might get the message that they shouldnt try to improve on yesterday, that they should just leave it at that.

I dont want to be wonderful, she said. I want you inside me.

He drove for a few seconds in silence, adjusting quickly to the circumstances. Prompt adjustment to changed circumstances was another thing they had in common.

There are lots of those horrible corporate hotels right near the airport, he said. We could rent a room just for an hour. He regretted the horrible bit; it sounded as though he was trying to dissuade her while pretending not to. He only meant that the hotels were the sort they both avoided if they possibly could.

Just find a quiet lay-by, she said. We can do it in the car.

Crisis! he said, and they both laughed. Crisis was the word hed trained himself to say instead of Christ, when hed first become a Christian. The two words were close enough in sound for him to able to defuse a blasphemy when it was already half out of his mouth.

I mean it, she said. Anywhere will do. Just dont park in a place where another cars likely to run into the back of us.

The highway looked different to him now, as they drove on. In theory it was the same stretch of tarmac, bounded by the same traffic paraphernalia and flimsy metal fences, but it had been transformed by their own intent. It was no longer a straight line to an airport, it was a mysterious hinterland of shadowy detours and hidey-holes. Proof, once again, that reality was not objective, but always waiting to be reshaped and redefined by ones attitude.