• “Please, Jacob, slow down; you’re going too fast.” Ari pleaded once more, clutching tightly round the waist of the man she had trusted her heart with. His face she couldn’t see, as it was masked behind his helmet, but she could feel his warmth pouring into her. She could hear his laughter at her request, and she could tell he was smiling.

    “Why? This is fun.” Jacob replied, pressing the bike on, even though they weren’t working. Ari punched him lightly in the shoulder, requesting again for him to slow down: “Come on, this isn’t fun. Please.” Jacob sighed, and then spoke with an interesting request. “Babe, tell me you love me.” His hands clutched tighter on the handlebars.

    “I love you, you know tha—Please, slow down!” She exclaimed as they rushed past a van bearing the Sky symbol on it, the Simpsons making the background. She wrapped her hands tighter around his waist, but he still didn’t slow. “Ok, this is scaring me now, please Jacob.” Once again, he kept going, and yet he made another request.

    “Let go, and then hug me, like you usually do.” And she did, puzzled by what he was saying. Still, the bike roared along the road.

    “Oh, and Ari, can you take my helmet off and wear it? It’s starting to bug me.” She did so, catching a glance of his dark brown hair as she pulled on the helmet. And then it was black.

    ---

    The news man continued his report;

    “Late last afternoon, a bike carrying two passengers were accelerating when, according to the police, the bikes broke, causing the bike to continue accelerating with no stop. A man and a woman were found on the bike, the woman on the back while the man was driving. Just when they hit 80, the bike plummeted into the wall. Had the driver been wearing a helmet, perhaps both would have survived, but only the woman did so. Police are still looking further into—“

    The TV switched off, and Ari collapsed into the sofa.

    And cried.