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Pulling into the car park, Phillip sighed. His eyes drooped like wilted roses and his hands were weak on the wheel; the day had dragged on for what felt like days, and he was more than happy to go home – even if it meant facing the empty shell of his house – deprived of the calm and ease that had once been spread. Before she left him. He sighed, “Such is the life of a taxi-driver!” he said, voice laced with sarcasm.
The day had been reasonably uneventful (bar a strange man with an unusual mask – that was weird – he hadn’t said a word the whole time and left a £50 note behind when he departed). Phil sighed in relief when he realised that the next passenger would be his last.
He had to keep moving. The boy ran; the rain soaking his clothes, sticking to his frame as if they were holding on for their life. He slipped and fell, ankle twisting sharply. One… Two… Three… He pushed himself up, face caked in mud, tears and rain. He had to keep moving.
I turned back in my seat to see a boy sprinting toward my chunky cab like his life depended on it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. I shifted back in my seat and waited for him to scramble in the taxi, the rhythmic sound of the air conditioning blasting through the car and the now apparent moon shining bright.
Practically on cue, the boy stumbled into the cab – breathing heavily - rocking it from side to side like a boat upon the sea. I turned back around to get a better view of him. His clothes were dirty and torn – worn down after what looked like years of use. The thing that stood out to me the most though, were his eyes. They were electric blue and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought they shone as bright or as deep as the ocean.
The boy shifted nervously, eyes darting around the cab as if it was rigged. I took this as my time to spark up a conversation, like steel to flint.
“So, where are we headed?” I asked, pulling my seatbelt over myself. Click!
“To the edge of the city,” He murmured “As far out as you can get me.”
I sighed inwardly, the city wasn’t one of the safest and the outskirts were moderately far from where the two of us were.
I turned the key in the ignition and the taxi kicked in the steady rumbling it always made. It would take a while, but the boy seemed insistent that this is where I should take him. It was getting darker by the minute. I didn’t even know if the boy had anyone waiting for him where they were going. It was a long drive, and we didn’t talk much, but I learnt that he was running from someone. Someone dangerous.
The boy exited the cab the second I stopped. The wind blew in and sent shivers down my back, the hairs on my arms standing on guard. It made me tense up, a cloud drifted over the moon. I was left in darkness. It got colder, colder, colder. I wrapped my arms around myself and turned around again – my seatbelt holding me back like it knew what would happen if I dared go any further. Despite this, I couldn’t stop myself from turning to watch the boy leave and -although I did not get out of the cab – I planned to watch him intently.
However, as I turned to get a clearer view of him, I realised that I could not see him at all. In his place stood the masked man. The cold I was previously met with was overshadowed by a scorching hear. I felt a sense of hopelessness was over me, like the sea washing over the sand and leaving only despair. I know now that I never would have been able to save the [ppr boy from whatever was in store. The man stared at me in a way that made my boil and flesh fry. I was lucky enough to have left alive, who knows what would have happened if I left that cab.