Sarah’s Dreams — Tangled up in Blue

A little vignette I wrote based upon the Bob Dylan track Tangled up in Blue.

Rain battered the windshield, blurring the deserted highway into streaks of grey. Sarah gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white, her concentration absolute within her limited field of vision. The radio crackled with static, then a comfortingly familiar melody broke through. “Tangled up in blue,” Dylan crooned, and a wave of memories crashed over her.

She saw him again, a skinny kid with wild hair, hitchhiking on a dusty road. Destination unknown, both of them chasing youthful dreams. They drifted through grimy cafes and down at heel diners with their love making them oblivious to it all. She believed every word of his whispered promises under starry skies. But the road, like their love, had its twists. He craved freedom, a restless spirit, while she yearned for a place to call home.

The memories faded. Sarah, chilled and lonely, in a dingy basement on Montague Street. The cafes still thrummed with music, but the revolution had faded, replaced by a bitter disillusionment. He was gone, chasing some other phantom that would always remain beyond his grasp. She clutched a book of Italian poetry, its words echoing the ache in her heart, its pages damp with tears.