Author's Note: This is another
FICTIONAL
story. All characters in the story are
FICTIONAL
the exception of my wife and I. All of the actions and conversations in this story are
FICTIONAL
.
*****
It was a quiet early October evening and, as per usual, we were sitting watching tv. We'd had a busy summer but now that the cooler, darker autumn evenings had arrived it seemed like we were already hibernating. That didn't usually start until December when the nights were long and cold.
"I'm bored." My husband groaned.
"Me too. What do you want to do?"
"Something, anything before I slip into a coma."
"Think of something." I knew that I sounded exactly like someone who couldn't think of something themselves.
"Ok, I'll think of something." He promised.
When we were both home from work on the Friday evening, I asked him "So, what did you think of?"
"Well, nothing specific, but I know that there are a lot of Fall Fairs going on in the area what with it being Fall an' all." He gave me a goofy smile. "Why don't we pack an overnight bag and, after breakfast tomorrow, we just pile into the car and take off somewhere. Maybe we can find a fair to go to and then look for a B&B or something were we can spend the night and then see if we can find another fair or something interesting on our way home."
"Sounds ok. I'll go and put a few things in a bag." In truth I wasn't convinced that it was something that I wanted to do but I couldn't think of anything better.
During our leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning I asked "Which way are we heading?"
"Well, I don't really want to head Niagara way. We were already down there several times this year and we spent some time in that Cambridge/Waterloo area too. So that really just leaves north west or north east. Do you have a preference?" He answered.
"No, let's just toss a coin."
"Ok, heads it's north west and tails it's north east."
He gave me a quarter and told me to toss it. I did and it landed with a clatter on the hardwood floor and rolled under the sofa.
"Got another coin?" I laughed.
"No, give me a hand with the sofa. If we toss again we'll just start second guessing it."
We pulled the sofa away from the wall and found the coin. It was tails. We were heading north east.
We decided to stay off of the highways and stick as much as we could to the rural roads. An hour and a half later we were in country that neither of us were familiar with.
Around midday we both started to get hungry. We drove through several small communities and then found a quaint looking restaurant and farm store.
We were the only customers in the restaurant and I quickly realised that we outnumbered the staff. We were about to get up and leave when a plump middle- aged woman appeared. She was clearly flustered as she handed us menus.
"Sorry luvs. Been helping out in the farm store. Just had a new crop of apples arrive. What can I get you?"
There wasn't much on the menu so we both ordered toasted sandwiches. When she brought them, my husband asked "London?"
"Yes luv, Peckham. Been here nearly thirty years and I can't get rid of this bloody accent. What about you?"
"Swindon. I've been here nearly forty years and I lost most of my accent in the first year. Still comes out after a few beers or if I'm watching football." He giggled.
"I had an uncle that re-settled in Swindon after the war."
Is he still there?" My husband asked.
"Nah. He died years ago." She replied.
The conversation died right there too. We finished our food and bought a few apples and some veggies and set off again.
Perhaps forty minutes or so later we saw some tents and tractors and figured it was a fall fair. When we pulled into the part of the field that was being used as a parking lot we got out of the car and asked a farmer what was happening.
"It's a ploughing match." He replied.
There was a tractor trundling slowly across the field and we weren't exactly trembling with excitement when we got back into the car and drove away.
About twenty minutes down the road we found what we were looking for. It was a fully-fledged fall fair with old steam tractors, horses, cows and sheep, a midway and stalls selling arts and crafts and hot dogs and beavertails. A large sign advertised a "tractor pull 6.30 pm until 8.30 pm.