THE PHONE RINGS:

 

A familiar voice at an unfamiliar time of day is a stranger.

“You OK?”

“Yeah, I got a can of Stella”

“Oh!”

It takes me back to 90’s Romford, the boys in the back of the 

splitter van, the boys in the ground transport, Festival to 

airport, high on booze & laughter. It had been a strange gig, 

started weird, eased into euphoric & concluded drunk & flying, 

irreverently live to air in a radio truck up a mountain.

The boys from Essex were on form that night, fast track tongues 

that couldn’t be silenced. I climbed into the bus, wrapped in 

sweat soaked towels craving quiet, within seconds we were howling

tears of laughter, our insides hurting from the joy of it. 

Best comedy hour I ever spent was in that mini bus, driving 

late night mountain roads, coming down into Geneva, catching 

glimpses of the driver’s eyes in his rear view mirror wishing it 

would soon be over.

 

(K)