Time was viscous upon that bare, sandy road. Her hair was honey that trailed off behind the open roof of our convertible and her face was as sweet to match. Our car sliced through the warm air, its number plate decorated: “Newlyweds.” Nothing could stop us. 

  Her laughter, nearly lost in the wind, melted my mind into a satisfying ooze. It was enough to get high on. I revved the car as her chest bounced, and I glanced to my side, into her smooth face and smiled. Her smile beamed back with more power than the sun.  

  We were too young but Beth was adamant it had to be done. 

  “Can we go any faster? When we do it,” she giggled. “I want us to be speeding.” 

  “Lemme have a try.” I pressed harder onto the accelerator. We surged into a new speed. Already, the flashing lights of police cars had become a distant memory. 

  The rolling desert rushed behind us and we entered the mountains. 

  “Now is this the thrill you wanted or what?” I said. 

  “Yes! Yes! Oh, David, this car is so beautiful. I wish we had one like this when we got married.” 

  I laughed, “Well, now we do.” 

  We had our cheap Vegas marriage last year. The sadness in her eyes as she spoke “I do.” never left my soul so I knew something had to be done. Working honestly was never enough though. We always wanted more. 

  “I love you so much, David,” she said. 

  “I love you so much, Beth.” 

  “Are you sure you’re ready?” she asked. 

  “I’m ready if you are.” 

  “I’ve never felt so ready.” 

  God, I loved her. 

  I rounded a corner. The tires screeched. I hammered my foot onto the accelerator again until another corner came, and I drifted round that one too. 

  “Again!” 

  So, I did another. 

  This is easy, I thought. 

  We ascended the mountains until the air cooled. 

  Another bend approached. 

  “We’ll make the papers!” she said. 

  “We’ll burst right onto the front pages.” 

  “We could go worldwide. Think of all the people that would see us. The car too!” 

  “‘The Newlyweds’. I bet that’s what they’ll name us.” I said. 

  I gripped the gearstick, squeezing my tongue between my teeth, narrowing my eyes. 

  The road receded in the wing mirror. The bend was inevitable. 

  This is it, I thought. 

  Almost… almost… almost… 

  Beth threw her arms around me and held fast. In the moment, I wished that I could have held her back. But I had to fulfil what she wanted. What I wanted. 

  We passed the barriers seamlessly and flew through the blue sky. A pang of fear gripped my body but Beth’s laughter melted the tension away. She cried and whooped and cheered. I closed my eyes and felt her warmth, her chest, her breath against me. A crash rang across the valley. Her laughter never ended. 

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_{I wanted a Vegas story. From that idea, I wrote this piece. Whilst ‘Upon That Open Road’ holds a special place in my heart, I’m still not sure what to make of this short story.} 

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