The ride

For everyone who has fallen in love with a piece of machinery

Well, I honestly have no idea where to start this, or where am I going with this, or the purpose of writing this. It’s been a while since I have written something. The feeling of not having enough literal ammunition (ideas and vocab) has always had me procrastinating, but I thought it was time I got out of my comfort zone. So, here I am, staring at a white screen that is supposed to be a pirated version of Microsoft Word Application, with my fingers fluttering across the keyboard, and mind trying to summon anything about my life that might be worth sharing, and my conscience egging me on to quench my thirst for producing something of sentimental value to the person reading.

 

Alright let’s get started with this s**t. A lot has been going on lately, or wait, nothing really, no, my life is at its deepest valley when it comes to “having fun”. It’s been very boring since past six months. My world flipped, I shifted to a new place, or rather, a strange place with strange ways and strange people. Things here don’t work the way they did where I used to live. I miss my place and all the friends that I had to leave behind. I miss our little hangout spots and inside jokes. And damn I miss the natural accent people spoke in there. I also miss my ride, my love, clad in her pearl white fibre body, with a 180cc heart that roared loud and suppressed any other sounds around me. Just her and her authoritative voice above everything else. It was the silence that she created, I used to escape to when I needed solace. I used to take her out on rides to places barren and lonely, where no one could disturb us. She was a beast when it came to handling, and lightning fast when I needed her to tear through the traffic. Although we have had close calls and near death experiences together, she never let me down even once, her discs never locked out of surprise, and her chain never gave away which is quite extraordinary (taking into account that after all, she was always being exposed to the lunatic driver that I was). I never was late for anything with her around because she was literally a bullet out of the fastest sniper. Her light chassis was like it had been custom manufactured for me. I never let a friend, no matter how close, take her away from my eyesight. Be it storms, rain, hail showers or smearing heat, we have gone through all that together.

 

Then suddenly one day, I was deprived of her love, because of a stupid adrenalin-fuelled decision I made and took undue advantage of my privileges. I could have lost my life that day, but fortunately I got off nice and easy with nothing but a chipped collar-bone. The following eight weeks were like an eternity. I was in no shape of lifting up a pencil, let alone griping handlebars of a moving vehicle. We still spent time together but not on the roads, in the porch. Things were different and she remained silent, and that was actually deafening for me. Then one day I decided to push my luck again in spite of all the warnings from the orthopaedist. We had the best time of our lives that day.

 

When we came back, my folks were already home before they were supposed to and I knew that my cover was blown. At that moment I knew that she was going to be gone very soon.

 

When I got well, I still had her to me. For another month I cherished our time together. Then on one fine day, I finally had someone take her away. She proved to be a really good bargain in terms of monetary value as she was good as new, yet another proof of how well I had taken her care, but she was priceless to me. It broke my heart to hand over the keys to the new owner. She was about to go away forever, when I made an awkward childish request. I have to say, the gentleman was kind, as he said that he understood my concern and it was okay. Before I knew we were soaring on the under construction road in the hot evening. Her suspension felt like factory-new and for a while I forgot what a “jerk” even meant. That night we topped out at 127 kmph on our way back, which is hard to believe because that’s even higher than the officially recorded. Maybe it was just the slant of the road……..

Maybe  . . . .

 

For all I know, I loved the way she made heads turn in our direction when we passed, I loved the way she elegantly stood out above her kind in the parking lot and I loved the way she lost balance when the road was damp.

 

I loved her unconditionally, with all her flaws and peculiarities alike.