Enough was enough. Strict catholic parents, shunned from anything that wasn’t deemed ‘normalcy’, and a desire to escape. That was all it took to fuel the recklessness of young love. You had a plan, one that you’d concocted after sneakily leaving church service in the middle of prayer to hide away in the gardens. It had to be well thought out. Which, at the time, it really did feel fool-proof.

Tuesday, June 17th, 12:00am.

Today was the day.

You’d been waiting on the outskirts of an empty field with nothing but a backpack. A 10 minutes walk out of town, you had to remain unseen. Everybody in that damned place seemed to be linked, constantly updating each other with news regarding their kids, sticking their noses in anywhere but their own businesses.

12:15am. Andrew was late. The worry was starting to creep in. Had he been caught on the way? Had he forgotten, or maybe he changed his mind last minute?

The rumble of a rusted car engine and blaring headlights were enough to capture your attention from the eerie silence of the night. It took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the light. When they did, a wave of relief washed over you like a waterfall on a burning hot day. It was Andrew.

“C’mon, get in.” he coaxed, patting the door, “This thing doesn’t have a much fuel as I originally thought.”