~~
It was late in the evening and the sun was getting ever closer to the horizon while the sky took on several shades of reds and purples and oranges suggesting the fall of day and the rise of night. The constant drumming of rain was drowned unwilling into the unconcious by a cassette I had in the stereo. Some classic Eric Clapton seemed to fit the mood and I hummed lightly in tune.
The darkness continued to grow until the sparse headlights coming from the other side of the interstate were just enormous blurs through my windows. And the darkness appeared to only encourage the rain to fall harder. The air was wet, but I still felt the need to sip from the water bottle I had in the cup holder. I almost choked when I saw some one braving the wind and rain on the side of the road.
I slowed down and came to a stop some feet ahead of them and reached over the seat to roll down the passenger window. I turned the music off and when she came to the car and peeked in, my suprise grew even more. Why was a women out walking the road in this storm and a long way from any town?
"Do you need a ride? I'm on my way to Seattle," I asked. She looked half releived to accept, but also worried...or pained?
After she buckled her seatbelt, I offered her some tissue paper I kept in the console. She dried herself up a little and I pulled the car back onto the street. "Where are you headed?"
She sat back with her eyes closed, seemingly only half aware of my presense. "Seattle," she replied. "My car broke down few miles back and the battery in my cellphone died." Her exhasperation was plain.
"We should be there in an hour or so, depending on traffic." A small chuckle escaped her. "Do you like Eric Clapton?" I asked, reaching to turn the radio back on. She didn't answer or maybe I didn't hear. Instead I just hummed quietly to the memory of the song.
Almost a half hour down the road, my eyes began to grow tired. the last time I had made a trip upstate to visit my parents, I had almost fallen asleep. It was just as well, I could probably make the trip alseep any way. The rain was still heavy though. My passenger had nodded into waking and yawned.
"So, what's your name? I'm Steve, by the way." Maybe she was a little less weary now. I wasn't sure how to treat some one I picked up who might worry for themselves in my presense because of it. Stories about hitch hikers are enough to make any one nervous.
"Linda," she replied simply. She ran her fingers through her hair, an attempt to detangle the mess of her red hair that had become of the wind. She gave up with a wry twist of her lips.
"We're almost there, you can see the city lights over the pass on the right. We can find a phone and send a tow truck for your car if you want. I -- I'm sorry."
She dismissed it entirely. "For what? You didn't do anything." After a moment's thought, she smiled. "Thank you." I examined her and smiled back. Her gaze returned to the road and she tensed and screamed.
"Look out!" Possibly more of a shriek.
I only had a moment to see the blur that could only be a moose and I pulled hard to the right. The car barrelled down a hill off the road, rolling at odd angles off trees and boulders. My hands gripped the wheel firmly as I tried not to be thrown. Her screams said she was still trying to do the same.
Suddenly, the car came to a stop on its side, my side, and I could smell rubber burning from the engine through my own sweat and blood flowing from my head where it had bounced off the window and into the steering wheel. I pushed the pain away. "Are you okay? I can't see."
She didn't reply, but I could hear her breathing. We had to get out of the car and now.
"Can you move?" I asked while I struggled with my seatbelt. After unlatching it, I reached up to feel for her buckle.
"I think so." The sound of her voice was a relief.
I undid her seatbelt and managed to get her down. After I kicked out the remaining glass in the windshield, I helped her through and we made our way to safety. We found a fallen log and sat down. I watched the car burn up and hen hiss as the rain forced the flames away.
After I caught enough breath to speak, "A lot of good I've been for you. Do you feel okay? Nothing is broken?"
She shook her head. "Sorry about your car."
I smiled, or a pathetic attempt to smile any way. "You didn't do anything. It was a rental." The rain was still coming in drops the size of marbles. "We'd better find a safe place until the rain clears up."
She reached over with one hand to turn my face to her and she gave me a slight kiss. Soft as silk being pulled across a cloud. Mu wits shattered into a thousand shards that'd take centuries to piece back together. Lost in her blue eyes that seemed to gather the light and repel the darkness surrounding them. "Thank you. And you're right, let's find some shelter."
She stood up and I numbly followed.
~~
Probably a little long. But i write, and that's what writers do.
Have fun.
Gah!
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