On A Road Less Traveled..by Michael

I'm not one for picking up hitchhikers but this time I made an exception. She appeared to be maybe thirteen or fourteen years old and was standing out in the pouring rain on a winding country road in Pennsylvania. I waved to her to get in as the young teen opened the back door of my car and hopped in with a book bag strapped to her shoulders. "My school bus never showed up, so I decided to walk home" she said from the backseat of my car. "I'll take you home, where do you live"? I asked her. "After the second curve in the road, you will see a dirt path on the right leading to my mom and dads farmhouse", she said. My car slowed down and turned right on the dirt path as I approached the farmhouse and stopped. She got out and ran to my side of the car as she reached into my open window and honked the horn. A porch light was turned on and her parents came out from the front door. They appeared to be in shock as if they saw their daughter for the first time, or maybe seen a ghost. "Where did you find her kind stranger"? they both said at the same time. "About a half a mile back down the road", I replied. Her parents invited me in as I sat at their kitchen table. They told to wait there as their daughter needed to be tucked in and kissed goodnight. Mom and dad came back out and hugged and kissed me as if some miracle had just happened. "Sir, this may be a little hard to comprehend, but let us explain...A few years ago our daughter was killed on the road while trying to walk home from school. The driver was never found as he fled the scene and there were no witnesses. Tonight you brought her home to us as we believe she finally caught a ride to get here". I drove back down the dirt road and made a left on the main road to go back home. In my rear view mirror a young teen was seen standing by the side of the road in the pouring rain. She waved at me with a big smile on her face......