It was a Dark and Stormy Night.

'Voice of Reason', has a penchant for big cars. My first glimpse of him was in 1986.
whilst driving through the steel works, I was intrigued to see a hearse, apparently being driven by one of the 'Blues Brothers', coming in the opposite direction.

Voice is a master story teller. This is one such tale, from the hearse era.

15th of October, 1987. The night of the 'Great Storm.'

'Voice' and mate 'Mohican', had taken the hearse to England on a fishing trip.
Storms don't usually deter most anglers but this time, trees had started to crash around them. It was getting dark, when they began to weave their way home through the Cotswolds.
The strong winds were buffeting the slab sided hearse. The road was strewn with branches. Leaves and debris tumbled down the road. Steel panels clanged alarmingly.
Thunder, rumbling menacingly, closed in behind them.
Lightning illuminated the angered trees, as they swirled and danced in the relentless winds.

They were starting to hunger, but all was shuttered or closed until, to their delight and surprise, they encountered a petrol station, its kiosk alight with life.

In the midst of Armageddon, the hearse glides through running water, up to the building.
The two men alight, bent in submission to the elements, clasping their clothing
'Voice' in homberg, wraparound mirror shades and full length fishing coat,
'Mohican' with green hair, piercings and tattoos.
The storm, now upon them, cracks thunder and lightning as they enter the shop, dripping with rain.
They stop to take in the contrasting, relative calm, and straighten to their full height.
The door slowly closes out the white noise of the driving rain.

Behind the counter, a young man, wearing a 'Save the Whale' 'T' shirt, who looked like he might knit his own muesli,

raises both hands in surrender.