tonight

She asked:
"Do you have a cheesy song that you can play?"

We had just driven past a heavy-industry site. Gigantic, short and chubby cylinder chimneys fumed large amounts of grey smoke into the navy-blue skies. I felt that a cold-blooded Pink Floyd song, something like "Welcome to the Machine" could suit the mood, and she asked for a cheesy song. She was driving and I got to choose which tune to play. I put on something and she did not seem to mind it despite the fact that it contained romantic touches.

We had to leave the highway because of road construction. She swerved into the country roads. I could not tell whether she was getting frustrated by this or she was enjoying the shaded valley roads covered by green trees that looked to protect us from the fragile skies that could break on us at anytime. The road map signalled a few small towns where we could hit the highway back but the road signs could not do much help. We had been driving for the last 3 hours already and it seemed as if these side roads would not end. She did not mind. In such times I always came up with uneasy songs that would fit the potentially depressing environment. The soundtrack of a moody guy, as one may describe. She came up with a cheerful request because the world was always going to go on revolving just like the tyres of the car beating the roads into the night. This is how she nicely said 'fuck you' to the world.

I had managed to break the radio of the car the first evening, long before I managed to burst the hose of the water-tank for the engine, burn out the engine and practically break the rest of the car. It was before all of this that I was translating the lyrics of some heartbreaking songs from my language, too. We also talked about me having not broken a single bone my life. I guess I was always too cautious... Or rather too busy breaking softer parts of my body instead. All broken and shattered once, it seemed as if all could be fixed at once with a little help from a cheesy song.

She got cheered up with the song I picked. I decided I did not have to try and fit the 'mood'. After all, we were rolling down the road. The evening outside started to succumb into the fluorescent lights along the way. Now I was behind the steer and the street lamps welcomed us in. We were driving into her city and it felt good.