Someone once told me that when it comes to writing, you start off with an earthquake and then work your way up to the climax. It’s strange, how something seemed to loosen inside me once I started writing to you, and on some level, I must have known all along that we’d end up here. Back there. I meant what I said about exposure therapy, that it will help you, so I’ve tried to rebuild what happened. I feel I know these scenes so intimately it’s as though I was there myself. I wish I could see your face as you read my words. I wish I could know if I got it right. If I helped.

You run excitedly towards the dirty grey Mazda sedan purring impatiently by the side of the deserted road, exhaust rising into the night sky. You scoot across the back seat and try to get a glimpse of the man behind the wheel, but you can only make out a smooth brown neck and longish black hair curling at the tips. You feel a wave of trepidation and fight the urge to slip back into the night, but you immediately feel silly – after all, there are three of you. Elisabeth and Trine rush into the car, giggling and breathing exaggeratedly after the little dash up the cracked tarmac towards the car. Trine’s bare legs squeak against the leather seats. Elisabeth mutters, ‘Hola,’ and, ‘Gracias,’ and then all three of you giggle again, a hollow nervousness creeping into your voices. The man steps on the gas and the car surges off, fast.

When someone had finally stopped, you’d squealed and clapped your hands, it felt like you’d been standing there for hours in the hot, dusty air. You know that hitchhiking in Venezuela is a bad idea, but you also know that you need to free yourself from the over-protectiveness of your parents back home, and that young people need to have adventures. Wild adventures – that was the whole point of this. Besides, Elisabeth and Trine are convincing co-travelers and you know better than to question their plans. Mostly, you just do what they say.

You glance at them now, watching shadows chase across their faces as the car speeds north towards the coast, bringing those sandy palm-fringed beaches you’ve been dreaming of closer.