Midnight Dash: Requiem

Speeding down the highway, rushing past traffic that only sees me as a red blur, I saw a very familiar sight, not too far away. I blinked my eyes in disbelief. It was my former queen. Still regal in white and as lovely and as lethal as ever. The Red Knight is with his former queen once again.

Could it be?...

I knew that she had seen me. Slowing down to let me catch up with her, she flashed her lights saying: "Come on, let's race again." I smiled and I flashed the lights of my car in return as an acceptance of her invitation. Flooring on the accelerator, we dashed together into the night.

Is this for real?

I was overjoyed to be racing with her again. I was more than happy that she was racing with me again.

Is there still a chance?

But I felt something different about her. Something about her has changed in the same way that I had changed. Making our way past clueless vehicles, I saw that her movements, while similar to how she raced with me in the past, had also changed.

Would our race still continue with you as my queen?

Weaving past more traffic, we saw a fork on the road. To the left was an empty highway. To the right was a pair of cars racing together as if in a dance. And I suddenly had this feeling that this will become the final turning point for both of us.

Or will you be just another character, friend or rival the next time we meet?

I signaled to my companion that I would be taking the left turn. She did not respond. I signaled to her again, hoping that she would follow. As we closed the distance towards the fork on the road, I took the left turn. Looking back at her, I saw that she took the right turn. Before we entered our respective lanes, she flashed her lights as if to say: "We are two very different persons now. We can no longer race the way we used to. We had a good race, we had a special bond but I cannot continue with you anymore. Goodbye. See you again sometime."

My former queen, the woman and friend that I fought for and raced with for so long, had made her choice. And her Red Knight had made his. Deep inside, I knew that we would still be crossing each other's racing lines again - but in a very different light.

Good-bye, take care and good night.

She took off after the pair of cars that we saw earlier in the lane that she chose. With a heavy and resigned heart, unbelievably mixed with a sigh of relief, knowing what the real score is, I shifted to a higher gear, floored the accelerator, and flew down the path that I took alone into the night - finally free of the past.

To be finally free...