A Moment in Eternity

The night was dark and it was snowing. He was driving as fast as he could. It was his son’s birthday and he wanted to make it in time. He looked at the passenger seat and saw the model train set he had purchased. He knew his son would be happy; the kid just adored train sets.

 The freeway was more or less empty, but the snow falling was making driving difficult. He had to drive cautiously even though he had the urge to race on through. Just then his wife called.

“Honey, where are you? The party’s about to start and everyone is more or less here.”

“I am on the way dear. The snow is making it difficult to drive. I will make it home soon. Don’t worry, just stall a little bit. Get that joker to crack some jokes.”

“Oh, alright, but get home fast.”

He was now more determined to get home fast. He put his foot down on the gas and started speeding up. Just as he took the last exit off the freeway, the snowfall stopped. He was thankful as he could now reach home quickly. 

 But just as he thought about speeding something hit his car.

He immediately screeched to a halt. He prayed that it would be a deer or a raccoon or something. He didn’t want any hassles now, not an injured pedestrian definitely. He stopped the car a little distance away and got down. 

The shape on the road was definitely human and he cursed his luck for not noticing the person on the road. He quickly ran to the person and called out.

“Hey, you okay?”

No reply.

 He got even more tensed and called out again. Still no answer.

He went near the person and noticed that she was a girl. Possibly in her late 20’s and as far as he could see, there were no visible injuries on her. So he called out again.

“Hey miss, you okay? Do you need any help?”

“Umm, yeah, I guess!” she replied weakly.

He was relieved to hear her voice. At least she wasn’t dead or badly hurt.

“Hey, do you want a hand getting up?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks” she replied.

He helped her get up and when she turned to him, in the light of the headlights from the car; he could see that she was an exceptionally beautiful woman. She had a light bruise on her head, but nothing serious.

“I am really sorry. I was getting home for my kid’s birthday and didn’t see you there. I hope you are okay. Do you need a lift somewhere?”

“Umm… I am okay, more or less. But it would be really helpful if you could just drop me off a little distance ahead. I usually walk back home, but I don’t think I can make it today, if you don’t mind.”

He was more than happy to help her. At least she was not pressing charges or demanding any compensation. Plus, since she lived on the way, he didn’t have to change routes also and could still make it home in time.

“I would be more than happy to help you. Please get in” he told her.

“Thanks a lot”

She got in the back seat of his car and they drove off. He was still thanking his lucky stars that she didn’t call the cops on him.

“You know, I am really thankful that to you, that you didn’t make a big fuss out of this. I would be happy to pay for all of your medical expenses.”

“Oh that’s fine! I am okay, nothing a little band aid can’t handle.”

“No ma’am, I insist.”

“Okay fine, I will send you my medical bill, happy?”

“Ha! Ha! Definitely”

He turned to give her his card when he received the shock of his life. The back seat was completely empty. There not even a mark on the seat covers; it was as if there had been no one in there.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He craned his neck and looked down, still no sign of the girl he had given a lift to.

He decided to immediately get home and forget all about it. But he couldn’t stop himself from shivering. He felt a cold chill seep in through his shirt and crawl all the way down to the base of his spine. He couldn’t stop his hands from getting all sweaty and had to grip the steering wheel even tightly.

Then suddenly he swerved and went over the railing, crashing into the cold snow.

He must have lied in the cold snow for hours when he suddenly woke up. He got up and started to walk towards his car. It was a complete mess, a mangled mass of steel and flames. Inside, he could see the model train set in pieces, burning away with the flames. He was still thankful that he made it out alive with just a scratch on his arm and a bump on his head.

As he looked around he saw a lot of police cars and a number of EMT’s rushing around. He could also see his wife get down from a cop car and he rushed to greet her.

From a distance, he could see that she was crying. Worried about me, he thought. He wanted to get to her and assure her that he was okay and so he rushed to her.

But just a few yards away from her he stopped, for he could see why she was crying, for there in the ambulance, lay his lifeless body on a gurney; his body with a scratch on his arm & a bump on his head.