In my previous blog, I said I was itching to write something, anything. Well I did :)


The Destination

It was a cold, shadowy night. Therese was cruising along a narrow road not far from the small, outback town of Kotombi. Early that morning, she had gone to visit her relatives that lived on the outskirts of Sydney. There had been a barbecue and lots of catching up with her numerous family members. Time had flown. Now, it was a few minutes before midnight and Therese was hoping to make it back to her apartment without any trouble. Driving at night was tricky but luckily, she had denied any alcohol at the party.

The blue gums rose up on either side of the road, forming an arch that blocked out the moonlight. At this time of night, there was no other car to be seen. Therese wasn’t one to be easily spooked, being a medical scientist and all, so she concentrated on the road ahead and tuned in to her favorite country/western music station.

She was too busy humming along to the radio that she nearly didn’t notice the pale, figure waving, on the side on the road. He or she was clearly hoping to get her attention and was even jumping up down. Therese was a bit apprehensive. It was strange for someone to be on the road at this time. Maybe they had gotten lost and was trying to get home?

Turning off the radio, she pulled over to the left quickly and wound down the window.
“Hey, is everything alright?” she asked, “It’s a bit late to be out walking.”
The man, who looked to be about 55, just smiled sadly and pointed to his throat.
“Oh! I’m sorry… You can’t speak? Then, where are you headed?” she tried again.
He pointed down the road and made a driving motion. Therese took it that he wanted a lift. She hesitated. There were enough stories about strange men getting lifts from young women and what happened to them after that. But seeing as this person had no supplies with him and was quite a fair distance from the nearest town, she decided to take a chance.
“Alright, I’m heading back to Sydney. I’ll take you as far as I can,” she said.
The man gave her a grateful smile and got into the passenger seat.

Therese started the engine and continued down the country road. She sneaked a glance at the man sitting next to her. He was really very pale; you could almost call it, well, translucent. An overgrown beard covered the bottom half of his face and his eyes were wrinkled around the edges. He stared straight ahead, with a sorrowful expression on his face. Therese wondered what had happened to give him such an expression. She continued driving and tried to ignore the strange silence. She could hardly strike up a conversation with a dumb man, could she?

Eventually, she couldn’t take it any more. If he couldn’t talk, she would do the talking and he could listen.
She blurted out, “My cousin told me a story about this road at a recent family reunion. Apparently someone died here a few years ago. Isn’t that scary?”
The man just nodded politely and continued his silent contemplation. Undeterred, she continued, “People believe he died whilst trying to get back home... My cousin told me his spirit is still out there somewhere.” At this, she laughed out loud. It amazed her that some people actually believed in ghosts and whatnot. Therese had no patience for the supernatural. That was partly why she chose a career that was straightforward and uncomplicated. She looked at the man again, hoping he would find this funny as well but was met with another polite nod.

Forty-five minutes passed and Therese was nearly onto the main road. Suddenly, the man started gesturing and pointing to the side of the road. This was his destination. Therese pulled over and stopped the car under a particularly big gum tree. This place had a serene feel to it and even the animals and insects had stopped their constant noise. A cool breeze rustled the tree branches and then everything was still.

Before the man got out of the car, he surprised Therese by grasping her hands in both of his. Shaking them furiously, he seemed to be expressing his enormous gratitude. The sorrowful expression had disappeared from his face. Therese didn’t understand, she had only driven him a few kilometers but he was acting like she had saved his life or something.
“Um, you’re welcome,” she responded, “You sure you can go on from here?”
The man smiled once more and nodded as he got out of the car. Therese then turned the engine back on pulled back onto the road.

As she drove off, she couldn’t help remembering the last part of her cousin’s story: “His spirit wonders up and down this road, waiting for someone who is kind enough to bring him to his destination.”