That’s a great opening line for any story, especially one that is a true account. It is of an event that occurred one early morning on my drive home from work. As a third-shift laborer at a food-manufacturing facility, it was not uncommon for me to be on the road going home at 2 or 3 A.M. in the morning.
It was early Spring and the deep snow of winter was well into melting but patches and mounds still remained. Creeks and ponds are often overflowing this time of year with runoff water, and road closures along some of the low-lying rural areas are common. Local residents live with it and plan their commutes around it.
My route was always via NYS Route 17, which is the elevated intra-state highway (it is now an Interstate highway.) The Almond, NY dam was once again, back-overflowed and some county roads were under a dozen+ feet or so of water and temporarily closed.
Warming Trend
The earth was slightly warmer than the air from the previous day’s temperatures so the fog in the mornings was thick and often one entered heavy fog banks unexpectedly. Driving was a bit treacherous for those prone to speeding and would be especially dangerous if one lacked familiarity with the turns and nuances of the road.
I was going home, happy and content with the previous evening’s work. It was the weekend, -my two days off. I had a big mug of Cappuccino I bought at the all-night gas station on the way home. My guilty pleasure, this.
I had plans later this weekend to drive to the Walden Galleria in Buffalo, NY, for cinema. Lunch would be a calorie love-fest at Taco-Bell or some other ‘fast food’ franchise, and there would be shopping. It was going to be my day.
My car smelled of the delicious coffee confection and was unusually clean, inside and out. I had spent the previous afternoon prior to work washing and waxing the exterior. I had vacuumed the interior upholstery and carpets, and used vinyl protectant on the dashboard and other vinyl parts and cleaned the glass, inside and out. –The burgundy Grand Am had this whole new-car smell going on! Life seemed good for me. A super-clean car inside and out is like wearing a new suit; the wearer feels better somehow.
I had the world figured out.
Just then I spotted some apparition in the center of the road, upright, running straight towards me! My first thought, a DEER! I tapped the brakes to release the cruise control and steered deftly to the right shoulder but maintained my speed as this animated creature shot past my driver’s side window at about two arm’s lengths distance.
Save Me!
I thought I heard a woman voice screaming “HEEELP MEEE!” and then, -the vision in the night was gone, swallowed by the darkness behind my still-moving car. –Did I really see that? I hesitated several seconds before applying the brakes fully and came to a stop. I felt my blood turn to ice water. Rolling down my driver’s side window and over the sound of my car’s motor I could definitely hear someone screaming at the night.
I threw the transmission into to reverse and started to back up. In the glow of the back-up lights, yes, -a tattered human figure was running towards me in hobbled gait. I stopped the car lest I run over her. I got out of the car; her screaming was absolutely blood chilling!
”HEELP MEEE!” she wailed, and mysteriously she changed course and jumped over the guardrail, and partially cowered down in the darkness, hiding herself from me.
I ran towards her and she slowly stood up, trembling violently, and began to sob deeply. Dressed inappropriately for the still-cold mornings, her torn and shredded blouse was water-soaked and muddy and matted. Shoeless, disheveled and clearly cold to the bone, she must have realized that needed to trust me. She climbed back over the wire guard rails and hobbled in my direction. Sobbing violently as she reached out for my hands, my thoughts were along the lines of ‘…Oh my God she’s been sexually assaulted and thrown from a vehicle!’
Too Cold to Speak
I convinced her to get into my car; her skin a pale blue from the cold and barely able to shiver. Nearly hypothermic, she was in still in danger. She was reluctant to get into a stranger's vehicle but she knew that she really had no options and allowed me guide her into my car. I moved my car over to the shoulder of road to be out of the way of any other traffic that might approach out of the darkness and with the heater set to it’s highest setting, I began to gently interrogate her. I was quite shaken; her form although bathed in light from my headlights had offered almost no contrast from the background of foggy night. I had nearly struck her with the car at full speed!
