Golden arches and drive-thru sign on lower back

Dear Aunt Vera, you'll laugh, but a double arch has to be exactly even or the whole town notices. Mr Pell from the chip shop noticed the first time I painted ours, when one gold stroke ran a quarter inch fat. He stood in the slush with his arms folded and said, "Our Gerald was never that sloppy with his arches," then bought four portions of chips and went off whistling, which I took as a compliment.

The red panel is harder than it looks. You need three coats so the white lettering doesn't go pink in the sun, and you need to wait for each coat to dry, which in this weather means hanging a paraffin heater beneath it like a sulky dog. I've learned to talk to the paint. I tell it to behave.

Last night the snow stopped at midnight and the timer clicked the lane lights on by itself. At three a car pulled up to the speaker with its engine running and nobody spoke. I stood at the window with my tea going cold and watched the little red sign blink its one word over and over until the driver finally drove away. I keep thinking about him out there, waiting for the box to answer.