This short story appeared in a charity anthology, ‘Wrong’ to benefit Creative Writing Institute that sponsors cancer patients in writing courses. The theme was ‘I have a list and a map. What could possibly go wrong?’
You’ll find a link to the book at the end of the story.

A Fork in the Road

Lauren tapped the steering wheel in irritation, following the beat of unfamiliar music on the radio. Where was Jessica? She knew time was limited. This was too much. She’d have to leave the car and run through the cloudburst to get her daughter.

‘Sorry, Mum. Couldn’t find my keys.’ Jessica got in, dripping rain on the dash as she tossed her light coat on the back seat.

‘I was beginning to think you’d got lost.’ She started the engine and pulled away.

‘Not going to drive at this speed, are you? Only we don’t have much time.’

Lauren peered through water streaming down the windscreen in spite of the double speed wipers. ‘I like to see the road ahead, dear. You know, so I don’t kill some poor unsuspecting pedestrian.’

Jessica shrugged. ‘You’re driving.’

‘Indeed, I am. You know where you’re headed?’

Jessica merely looked at her mother.

‘And you know what you need?’

Jessica sighed. ‘I have a map, and a list.’

‘What could possibly go wrong?’ Lauren finished for her.

It lightened the mood and they both laughed. For a while, they drove in silence, the unfamiliar tracks on the radio matching the unknown route.

‘I didn’t know you liked this station, Mum.’

‘I don’t. It’s for you.’

‘Oh. Right.’

Again, that uncomfortable silence fell between them, music fighting the noise of rain as they ploughed through the storm. Another fork in the road came and went without comment from Jessica and the road narrowed a little more. Lauren squinted through coursing water, searching for signs. The main road seemed to go straight on, so she continued on that track. Through the smear of rain she thought the road continued straight, and passed a bend to the right. Almost at once, she discovered another bend ahead and had to slow to take it, wrenching the car round abruptly so they didn’t leave the road. Jessica sighed.

‘I’m sorry, dear. I know this isn’t what you wanted. But your father and I felt it would be better this way. Look on it as a…’

‘…challenge, Mother? You don’t think I’ve had enough of those already?’

Lauren wanted to stop, put her arms around her only child, comfort her. But time was against them. If they didn’t reach the city by lunchtime, they wouldn’t make the connection. Or, at least, would have no time to buy the essentials beforehand.

‘I wanted to take you to lunch before we shop.’

‘That’s nice. Italian?’

‘I hope we’ll have the time, now.’

Jessica thumped the dash in front of her. ‘Mother. I told you. I was out last night with friends. Saying goodbye, you know? Mentioning the fact I may never see them again. Of course we were late back. I had to finish packing this morning.’

The rain had slowed to a mere deluge and Lauren felt able to speed up a little. Perhaps they would make it in time after all. They’d passed several turnings, both left and right, but Jessica had made no comment, although Lauren was fairly certain they should be passing the hills to their left rather than approaching them. It was all new country to her. Her journey to Jessica’s shared accommodation had been from the other side of town and she’d never driven out this way before.

‘You do understand why we want to make the move, don’t you, dear?’

‘Of course I do. I just wish you could’ve given me another six months. I could’ve found somewhere else to live before going off on my own.’

‘I thought you wanted an adventure. I mean, all that studying and hard work. You need a break from books and computer screens. You’ve been planning this, saving, for more than a year.’

Jessica nodded. ‘That’s when I thought I’d be travelling with Glenda or, better, with Jamie. Now, she’s marrying that moron instead. And Jamie, well, you know about Jamie. I didn’t expect to have to do it by myself. I won’t know a soul. And it’s thousands of miles away.’

‘If you really don’t want to go, why didn’t you say? We thought you were keen. You don’t have to go. Come and live at home. Move with us.’

‘Don’t slow down. I’ll miss the flight. And I still have things to buy before I board.’

‘You’re still determined to go, then?’

‘Take no notice of my whinging, Mum. I’m just nervous. I was expecting to travel with someone and now I’m flying off to the wilds by myself. I’m edgy, that’s all. Take no notice. Where are we?’

Lauren shrugged. ‘No idea. You’re navigating, dear.’

‘I thought you knew the way.’

‘I’ve never been here before. I did say.’

‘You really don’t know the way?’

‘Check your map.’

‘Map?’

‘You said you had a map and a…’

‘..list. Yes. A list of things I need to buy and a map of Australia so I know where I’m going when I get there.’

‘Oh. So you’ve no idea where we are now?’

‘Why would I? You said you’d drive me to the airport. Naturally, I assumed you knew where it was.’

Lauren slowed down. Stopped the car.

‘Why are you stopping? We don’t have time, and…’

‘There’s no point driving when we may be going in the wrong direction. Get me the map book, Jessica. It’s on the back seat.’

The younger woman stretched over the back of her seat, the movement pulling at the hem of her skirt so that Lauren was made aware of just how long her daughter’s legs had grown. She turned to study her and realised she was a very attractive girl, a young woman to be proud of.

‘I love you, you know.’

‘It’s not here. What did you say, Mum?’

Lauren shook her head. ‘No matter. The book’s not there? Maybe your father’s got it, for the trip to the new house.’

‘Like that’s going to happen. Now what?’

Lauren turned off the radio. ‘Can’t think with that racket going on. Doesn’t your mobile have some sort of map program?’

‘App, you mean.’ Jessica dug in her bag and dredged her phone from its depths. She held it up, looked at the screen, and scanned the area. ‘No signal. We’re miles from anywhere, Mum.’

‘We’ll have to turn round and go back the way we came. See if we can find a signpost or maybe somewhere that modern technology actually works!’

‘I didn’t change things, Mum. I can’t help it if you don’t like things the way they are. But my generation didn’t make the changes.’

Lauren, already too conscious of her own demographic’s responsibility for much that was wrong with the world, let the comment pass.

‘And what’s the point of turning round now, Mum? We know the airport’s in this general direction, don’t we? Might as well keep going till we find a sign. The rain’s easing; we might even be able to see it!’

Lauren set off again, with little confidence that this minor road would lead them where they wished to go. The airport sat on the edge of a major city. But what else could she do?

For the next few miles, they drove in a silence broken only by the occasional splash of a flood on the road and the hypnotic swish of windscreen wipers. The road wound into the hills and Lauren grew more certain they were heading in the wrong direction. This was an isolated part of the country and they should be on a major road if they were to find the airport. Still, with Jessica in her current mood, it was best to go with her wishes.

‘Any signal yet, dear?’

‘Out here? Must be joking. They still think the telly has little people in it, you know.’

Lauren laughed at the hyperbole but then realised her daughter wasn’t kidding. ‘You’re not serious?’

Jessica studied her. ‘One of the girls I was sharing with comes from round here. Says her next door neighbour won’t have a telly because he won’t have those little people in his house.’

‘She was joking, dear.’

‘Nope. They’re real backward.’

‘Really.’

‘Please, Mum. I’m not at school. I’ve probably got a degree. I don’t need lessons in grammar.’

Lauren nodded; it was one of her bad habits. A reflex that made her correct improper grammar. The result of more than thirty years spent teaching English.

‘Look, there’s a sign. Slow down and we’ll see what it says.’

They pulled up and read names of villages on the fingerpost, its weathered pointers giving four possible directions. No name was known to them. And no clues to what lay beyond any of these mystery destinations.

‘We’re lost, aren’t we?’

‘It appears so. Shall we turn round?’

Jessica shrugged. ‘Whatever we do, I won’t have time for lunch with you, not even to buy the sunscreen I want. If we’re lucky, we’ll get there in time to see my plane take off.’

‘It isn’t like you to be so down, Jess. Is there something you haven’t told me?’

‘Don’t be so stupid!’ She wrenched the door open and stormed off into the rain.

Lauren sat a moment, watching. What was that all about? It took a little time for her to realise Jessica had left the car without her coat. She’d be soaked in seconds. Her own coat was also on the back seat. She pulled onto the grass verge, feeling the car sink a little as it left the harder road surface. From behind her, she took the coats; locked the door.

Struggling into her own coat, she followed her daughter’s progress along one of the turnings at this crossroads, almost dropping the other coat as she did so. Jessica was already a few hundred yards away, walking with her head down, apparently oblivious of the pouring rain. Lauren began to run, concerned to get her under some protection against the chill, wind and rain.

The open land about her, dotted with small patches of stunted and wind-blown trees, and sporting pools of open water on the few flat surfaces, rose steeply in parts toward a sky yet dark with more rain. The road, poorly surfaced and maintained, was drowned in places by wide puddles that stretched the whole width. She was forced to splash through these pools, soaking her shoes and feet.

‘Jessica! Jessica, please wait.’

But the exasperating child surged forward with no regard for circumstances. Lauren paused, panting from unaccustomed exercise, and then set off again at a brisk walk. She glanced back. The curve in the road and slope of the hillside had already hidden the car. She shivered in the chill wind.

An abrupt turn and dip made her daughter vanish and Lauren dashed forward to maintain contact. When she topped the small rise where Jessica had last been in sight, there was no sign of her.

‘Jessica? Jess! Where are you?’

No reply. No sign of her daughter. She ran again, seeking the point where she’d last seen her. The wind strengthened and rain soaked unprotected hair, dripping down her face and obscuring vision further. She began to tremble, unspecified fear mingling with the cold and wet. Where had she gone?

Stumbling down into the dip, she looked about, searching for any sign of Jessica. It was impossible for the girl to have disappeared without trace. Either side of the dip, a small rhyll ran, tumbling down as white water to her left and dropping into a deep gully to her right. The small stream passed under the road with no bridge to mark its route. Gingerly, anxiety moving her with slow purpose, she looked over the edge of the roadway into the point where the rushing stream passed under the road. No sign there. She crossed broken tarmac and stared down into the gully. Nothing. Just fast flowing water falling down a steep slope lined with small bushes and dwarf trees.

‘Jess! Jessica? Where are you?’

Frightened now, unable to think straight, she looked back along her route. Of course, the girl wasn’t behind her. That was stupid. But the car was back there. Should she go back, drive to this point, and start the search again? She stepped back a pace, unsure. Suppose Jess was hurt, had fallen somewhere, just out of sight?

She moved forward again. And spotted the way the road climbed a short steep rise. Judging by the hillside, it must take an equally steep drop and turn a corner.

Lauren stopped: calmed herself with deep breaths. No need to panic. They were alone in this wild landscape. Nothing dangerous lurked here. Only the weather and the strangeness of an unknown land had made her doubt their safety. Everything would be fine. She’d top that hill and catch sight of Jessica down the other side. The girl hadn’t heard her call through the wind and rain. That was all.

She moved forward, purpose in her every step. Topping the rise, she looked about. Further than seemed possible, Jessica continued her relentless march to nowhere. But at least she was safe.

‘Little madam. I’ll give her what for when I catch her.’

She had a target again: moved on with greater confidence that she would now reach her. Everything was wet. Her skin felt cool and damp. Town clothes gave no protection against rain like this. She’d catch cold if this continued for much longer. And Jessica must be soaked through. Her light coat, draped over Lauren’s arm, was sopping wet, would offer little cover for her when they did get back together.

The going was hard. The surface deteriorating as it rose higher into the hills. This was a road to nowhere. Unused, unloved and abandoned. She trudged on, slowly gaining ground on Jessica. It seemed to take hours. God alone knew what time it must be. She had no watch, relying on the clock in the car when driving, disliking the awkwardness of jewellery on her wrist when at the wheel.

At last, she was within hailing distance of her daughter. ‘Jessica! Jess, please stop and wait. Please?’

The younger woman paused, moved another three or four steps, and halted. She stood looking the way she was facing, shoulders slumped and body trembling.

Lauren caught up at last. She draped the wet coat over cotton clinging like a second skin, pulling it close and fastening it over her chest to give some protection.

Those were tears. No use pretending it was rain on that desperate face. Her whole body shook with sobs of deep, deep grief.

‘What? What is it, my dear, dear child?’

‘I’m an idiot. I let him persuade me. Let him make me believe it would all be fine. And then he does this to me. I hate him. Hate him!’

‘Jamie?’

‘He’s not coming back. Ever. He’s found someone else. Going to marry her. Marry her, after two weeks. Can you believe it? Three years together and he does this to me. I hate him!’

What to say? How to comfort a heart broken by betrayal? He hadn’t fooled only Jess. Lauren and her husband had been equally convinced. Jamie would come back from his trip abroad and he and Jess would be married. It had all been planned. All been so definite.

‘Well, he doesn’t deserve you, Jess.’ She turned her daughter round and started the long trudge back to the car with her. ‘Nothing I can say will help just now, Jessica, but we love you. Come back home and live with us until you’re more settled.’

‘I love him, Mum.’

She felt the slump of defeat in the body beside her. Pointless reminding her she’d just declared she hated the man. She took her hand, walked with her up and down the hills, knowing that nothing she said, no words, would have the slightest effect on the situation, may even make it worse. But silence was a weight too heavy to bear.

‘It will pass. It’ll take time. But it will pass. I promise you.’

‘Will it?’

The car was in sight. A hint of brightness patched the sky beyond. Lauren knew her daughter well. There would be no further outburst. One violent expression of emotion, and then back to what passed for normality. She was a strong-willed, independent soul.

She helped her into the passenger seat, taking her soaked coat and dropping it in the back. It was then she noticed the map book, on the floor between the front and back seats. She handed it to the Jessica, and shed her own coat before getting into the driving seat.

For a while, they sat with the heater fan blowing hot air to clear the condensation. Calm again now, Jessica studied the map, and then glanced at her wristwatch. ‘I know where we are. If we get a shift on, we can still make it.’

Better not to ask if she was certain. ‘Left or right?’

Jessica pointed to the road opposite the minor one they’d walked. ‘Drive fast, Mum. I’m not missing that plane. Not now. I’m done with him. I’ll show him. He’ll be sorry he betrayed me when he hears how I’ve done Australia on my own. He’ll spend the rest of his life wishing he’d made the right choice. Get me to that airport.’

Lauren shifted through the gears and risked deep puddles, as she pursued her daughter’s happiness along the new route. Above, clouds slowly dispersed.

You can find the book here.