Suivant une ligne perpendiculaire à la route

Christophe, a truck driver, suddenly decides to go on a completely impromptu, self-imposed disappearance to escape his family and work life. His getaway, starting from the rest stop where he abandoned his truck, takes him first a few hundred meters into the countryside, to the home of Jacqueline, a widow and retiree who is delighted by the excitement this truck driver brings into her life and is determined to bring him to his senses, to convince him to take sensible steps (see a doctor, get retrained, get a divorce...). Realizing that she won’t succeed anytime soon—and knowing that the police will soon be searching for Christophe near the truck and thus coming to her house—she finds him a place to stay nearby, at the home of Sylvie, her divorced housekeeper. A bad idea...

> 2026 winning entry, CDN Orléans Reading Committee