The Roads to Freedom (Loving Strangers)


Friday August 5th 2022
Morning

What are you doing Anna

I am thinking

I often think when I am near the sea

I do love these iron tables and chairs

We are so lucky you know

Are we lucky to have these table and chairs

Or are we lucky to have placed them here

With massive views of the sea and the beach

Or both if you get my meaning

If we lived with views to a motorway service station

And had chairs and the table positioned at the end of the garden

Would we be as lucky as the views would be tedious in the extreme

 

I must say that you are looking a little tired Anna

I am

Liverpool at home again

Yes but I had a late night on Wednesday

I told you to go to bed early

But I miss you when you are away

I was only in London Town visiting my brother

The Roads to Freedom

What about the Roads to Freedom

It is being broadcast on the BBC again

For the first time in over forty years

And it is just breathtaking

It finishes at about one in the morning Anna

I know

No wonder you are looking like shit

I always look like shit when I am near you Anna

Your are far more more beautiful than me

That is absolute rubbish and you know it to be

 

There was a scene in one of the episodes which really made me think

Which one

It explored chance

Passing ships maybe

Explain

Well Mathieu had been called up because it appeared that war was imminent

It was at the time of the Munich Conference in 1938

France was in a state of panic

For someone who values his freedom above all else

Mathieu had accepted his conscription

Which was odd

He was due to catch a train to God knows where and appeared to be killing time

As he wanders around he comes across a young man being beaten by a mob

He pretends to be a cop and with the help of a woman who is slightly younger

Mathieu rescues the unfortunate youth who is quite dazed

The woman suggests that they take him back to her flat so she can bathe his wounds and let him rest

It is whilst there that the narrative changes radically

The youth is treated by the woman and later both she had Mathieu chat together

A mutual attraction is unexpectedly established and against the odds and they spend the night together

Mathieu is in transit rather like Stevenson’s traveller whereas we know little about the woman

Later the following day they travel to the railway station and after saying goodbye

The woman suddenly rushes towards towards the gate as she has realised that they had not exchanged names

It is an utterly brilliant piece of theatre and I know it will haunt me for years to come

 

Have you ever had a brief crossing of paths Anna

No never I have always been rather boring

This happened to me once many years ago

Do tell

I was at a cinema in Notting Hill Gate catching a movie

But before I entered and being a greedy cow I purchased some sweets

It was then totally by chance that a beautiful girl of my age smiled sweetly at me

I instead of going directly into the auditorium decided to hang around and watch this girl

Did you want to fuck her

No it was more than that as I was intrigued by this girl

She wandered across and chatted to me about a film poster

This beautiful blonde girl was American

What happened

Well I did not catch the movie

Pray tell

We went back to her hotel room which was nearby

And to cut it short we fucked and chatted and chatted and fucked

For the rest of the afternoon  night and into the next day

Was it love

No

Attraction

Yes

Sex

Obviously

What happened

Well she was flying back to JFK the following day

This was her last night in London

What a way to spend it

Was she like me

No her body was fuller than yours and her nipples were much darker

She might have had Central American blood

Why makes you say that

Because I once read that women from these areas tend to have darker areola’s and nipples

Anna you amaze me with your grasp on facts that are almost totally vacant

 

She asked me to accompany her to the airport

Did you

Obviously

What happened

Nothing

It was whilst we were having a coffee waiting for her flight that we realised that we had not exchanged names

What was her name

Pippa

Did you tell her yours

I will ignore that question as you are being playful

Did you keep in touch

No we agreed not to

Why

Because it would have cheapened our hours together

But she left me a memento

That being

She cut off a piece of her pubic hair

And so did I

We exchanged gifts

Have you still got it

Yes

It is in the lavender envelope next to yours

May I see it some time

If you like

What was her colouring

She had blonde body hair

Do you know that Lady Caroline Lamb once send the poet Byron some of her maiden hair

Yes I saw them at an exhibition some years ago

I think it is a lovely way to exchange gifts as it is so intimate

 

Anna

What was the name of the woman that Mathieu  slept with

I am not sure

Irene I think

But really I am not sure

 

 

Anna & Anna