We stairtit fae Norwich gye early, twa cars packt up wi funcy pieces an pork pies.
An the sax o us.
We did fit we could tae mak the trip ging faster, but ye canna help feelin sax hunner miles – Journey on tape cin only dee sae much!
We didna arrive late at my parents’ hoose. It wisna even seiven o’clock, but it wis November, so ye couldna see onythin ither than the licht fae unner the curtains – wee slivers o siller in the nicht.
The ithers rusht tae ging inside faur ma mither wis wytin wi hett food an buckets o hot tea. Ah stayt oot though, breathin in the fresh air.
That’s fan Ah saw Chris wis still ootside. He’d drappt his bag an wis just starin up, oot ower Bennachie.
'Ye fine?' Ah askt.
He noddit, then said, 'Each mile efter Cambridge is the furthest north Ah’ve ivver bin.'
Chris’s family wis fae Essex. They’d thocht he wis feel fer gaen tae university at aa, let aleen in Norwich – a full hunner miles fae hame! Fan he’d flittit oot tae Austria they couldna visit him because they’d nae passports. Ah couldna imagine it – my granda ws nivver hame an ma da still gets antsy if he’s nae bin onywaur fer a fyew days. Ah’d grown up on the back seats o cars, singin bad 80s pop through Europe ivvry summer holiday.
'Fit div ye think?' Ah askt, an noddit tae the hills.
'Ah’ve nivver seen mair en a fyew stars,' he said. We keekt up, an the sky wis full o em, peppert across the horizon.
It wis like seein the Shire fer the first time. Ah’d nivver stoppt tae tekk a really guid look because as a teenager Ah’d bin too busy, tryin tae leave. Fan Ah’d flittet tae Norwich, five year ago at aat pynt, Ah couldna git awaa fae Aberdeenshire faist enough, but noo, lookin doon ower the parks wi een o ma best freens, Ah felt like Ah’d come hame.