For Sue Vincent’s Thursday#writephoto challenge
She hated getting lost. But she wouldn’t use satnav and or Google maps. She preferred old paper maps, the folding type or the atlas style ones for driving. She would memorise a good part of the route. Try and remember road numbers, like the A53 or A34.
She had been distracted by satnav so gave up on it, and although she would look at Google maps before she went somewhere she would not switch her mobile on in her car, too dangerous.
When she was young she was navigating for her mother as they drove through the countryside. She took them down the wrong road, and had to admit that she had got them lost. She also got completely bemused in a group of terraced houses near her home when she was really young, so she decided to look for landmarks like shops or trees, train stations, pubs. She also remembered trying to work out where the sun was in the sky.
Coming up to a sign post like this, with a choice of two routes, she would try and check her map. She looked out for telephone poles because they tend to be on roads. She wanted an idea where the closest village or hamlet was.
The signpost was no use. It was so weathered and old that the words had completely disappeared. No use at all. She could see on the map that it was feilds for miles around. She could retrace her steps. Give up. Or plunge on, decisions.
Left, towards the sun which was starting to go down. Or right into increasing darkness. That was her dilemma.
It was a quiet autumn day and nothing much was happening. She had been out shopping and was starting to put stuff away in the fridge. Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind which rattled all the windows and blew lots of leaves along the path. It started to rain and the sky grew grey and then black. The kitchen was so dark that she had to put the light on. She thought she saw a figure outside, but when she tried to look through the window the glare from the electric light reflected back and made it impossible to see out.
Mallaband-Brown 