By Jimper
Pat and I had been going out together as friends for the past year. We had known each other all our lives. She was a lovely girl who ran her father’s shop. I had been calling in every day for my fags and Mars Bar. Tonight we were going to Hastings for a special meal at the Fiesta Club.
On the first floor they had a lovely restaurant that served marvellous prawn curries. I had picked her up from her home at eight in my father’s estate car and together we headed for town.
The November night was dark and drizzly. For some reason we took the road through the little village of Pett. Leaving there, the road climbs amid trees to join the main road. The left bank in one place is held up with a high concrete wall. While driving up the hill that night, a cat ran across the road from the right and vanished out of the headlights. Luckily we were not travelling very fast. As we drew level where the cat had vanished up the wall, there was a bang and a very angry cat landed on our bonnet, glaring at us as it stood on its four feet. The expression on its face told both of us that it was none too pleased to be there. My startled reactions were to stamp on the brakes. As Patricia screamed the cat sank its claws in and did its best to hold on but the sudden stop made it slide forward to vanish over the front, leaving its scratch marks on my father’s new car’s bonnet. Neither of us noticed the whereabouts of the creature after that but it certainly used up one of its lives that night!
“Hastings Town” August 2010
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