I get into the car. The only light in the night comes from the electronic clock on my left wrist. It is 02:39. I had left the car parked on the downhill slope so I wouldn’t have to wait near the settlement. A turn of the key in the ignition and, luckily for me, it starts on the first try. I slowly roll up the hill to the left of the house, holding the steering wheel and the gear lever tightly. The faint sound of the soil touching the tires makes me anxious. The idle can’t keep the revs up, and if I don’t rev the engine to warm it up, the motor will stall. That’s what happens now. Fortunately, this “now” is at the end of the hill, and when it’s time to start again, I am far enough from the houses. I turn the key, pressing the gas twice, the revs rise. The noise from the engine disappears into the air, far from the shutters of the last houses. In twenty minutes, I will have arrived. I start searching for a station on the radio. In vain. The antenna has been broken for two months.

The wind shakes the car throughout the journey, like a boat in a storm. It calms only when the two mountains appear to my right and trap the wind behind their rocks. A few kilometers on an empty road. The night has spread and darkness covers the horizon. The two headlights of the car are the only discord in this party of darkness. My excitement to meet him makes me accelerate. In ten minutes, I will be there. When I arrive, I park behind a bush. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I get out of the passenger seat and my heels scrape over the gravel. I approach my destination. I feel the wind caress my calves and climb up my thighs. It reaches my bare waist and my whole body shivers.