Overheard over coffee: a chilling horror story

CONVERSATIONS I OVERHEAR in the Cape ... I'm sipping a pleasant cappuccino in a Cape Town coffee spot. Two women at the next table, young fifties, are animated and enthusiastic as they relive a story with seemingly a long shelf life.

It seems to be a cautionary tale of the dangers of hitching without taking great care, a story of incredible courage in the face of, well, utter madness.

The anecdote is played out by three characters on a hot day in Cape Town seemingly a few years previously.

It is strange to hear both women acting as story-teller, both joining in the impromptu retelling, in a way almost as if they were reading a script. ‘And such a hot day,’ the girl I’ll call Myrtle exclaimed.

Heading for the beach

Jenny said, ’So there they are heading for the beach.’

‘They decided to go to Muizenberg. I don’t know why Sea Point wasn’t ...’

‘For a change, prob, it’s a good beach. The water’s warmer in False Bay.’

‘Maybe the Cape Doctor was raging. It’s got less teeth in Muizie.’

Myrtle said, ‘Off they went. They didn’t have a car.’

They didn't need a car

‘Attractive girls don’t need a car.’

‘Probably didn’t have a licence.’

‘Would you actually need one here?’

‘Only if the cops pull you over.’

‘They’re hitching,’ Myrtle said.

‘An okie pulls over. He’s on his own.’

‘Ought to be safe then.’

‘And in they get. Then ...’

Myrtle said, ‘I don’t like this bit...’

Continues on the blogs for my sailing adventure story, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com