The Road Less Taken

“I’m home!” she called as she stepped in from the chilly weather.

She walked into the spacious living room where the large television was flashing colors from the news. She placed her things down on the small entry way table and turned on the volume of the muted television. As the newscaster droned on behind her she walked to the kitchen and poured a steaming mug of coffee from the French Press.

“… and we’ll keep our eye on it as the situation continues.” A woman was saying.

She walked to the couch and sat down wearily as she sipped from the warm, earthy liquid at her lips. She felt the weariness of the day and knew she could very easily fall asleep right there.

“Hey sis.” said the other girl as she walked into the room. “So I see you helped yourself to the last of the coffee?”

“Sorry.” The first girl smiled.

“It’s fine. I’ve probably had enough caffeine for now anyway.” Her sister said sitting next to her with a textbook in hand.

“Still studying?” she asked as she sipped more from the cup.

“Yes. But I’ll have to go get some groceries… and coffee before this snow storm comes in.” she said looking at the meteorologist standing before a map covered in little snow storms. “Unless of course if you wanted to go.”

“Fine.” She said getting up and drinking the last of the coffee in her cup, “I have to go get some new gloves anyway.”

“Thanks.” Her sister smiled as she picked up her textbook and walked back to her room.

The young woman bundled up and walked back outside in the cold air that stung her cheeks and made her breath smoke. She walked to the small car and hoped in quickly. Starting the engine she quickly turned all the heating devices to full blast to heat the vehicle. When she was sufficiently warm she slowly pulled out of the driveway and began the drive down the winding mountain road to get to the nearest mall.

And then it began. First only as a light powder of white that gently drifted down from the heavens and then slowly beginning to grown into larger and larger piece, the snow came. It fell and stuck to the frigid roadways and car window. She found herself having to turn her wipers on in order to see in the inclement weather.

“Oh great.” She pouted as she saw the stopped cars ahead of her. She had left her home ten minutes ago as the sun was just setting behind the far mist covered hills. Now the blue light of twilight was everywhere and the brilliant white of the snow made the light hurt her eyes. The stopped cars in front of her moved a few feet then stopped again.

“Come on! Just when the winter storm begins we suddenly have to have traffic!”

She sat there as the sky grew darker and darker. Finally the car in front of her began to pull away again. She drove down a few more yards before it stopped again. She was about to yell with frustration when she saw it. Just ahead of her the road forked. It was a country road but if she remember right it would take her to the bottom of the mountain.

“Here we go. I’m not waiting for this idiot any longer.” And with that she turned onto the side road and began to drive.

She drove on further and further as the snow kept falling and the last glimmer of light receded from the world. The woods around her were ominous and dark and the snow ket falling faster and faster. She tried turning the radio on but then she remembered that she was having it repaired. Driving on in the utter, dark, silence, she felt completely isolated and alone. If she screamed for help there would be no one to hear her. No one to help her.

The snow became thicker, falling faster and harder. It was like a smoothing blanket of white that fell so thick and fast that it didn’t leave any room to take a breath. She began to feel a trickle of fear and panic run down her spine as goosebumps crawled over her skin. And then, with hear heart pounding in the lonely, suffocating, black, snow she heard it.

BEEP!!!

It was a loud horn behind her that made her jump in her seat. Behind her, ever so faintly, she could see a large pair of headlights from what must have been a truck, thundering down towards her. She felt a mixture of relief and panic at the strange truck behind her. She couldn’t see anything else but the two bright headlights that stung her eyes.

“Gosh! You don’t have to have your brights on you know!” she said irritably at the truck diver behind her.

As if hearing her comment the truck’s lights seemed to shine even brighter, blinding her entire rearview mirror. The loud honking continued as she heard the truck’s engines rev to go faster. She saw the two headlights coming closer, the loud angry honking continued as he was getting closer and closer.

“Oh my gosh! This guy is insane!” she said as she began speeding up too to make sure he didn’t hit her.

Again it was as if he had heard her words. His horn honked louder and his speed increased as the engine roared loader. He came up close behind her and rammed her small car hard. She felt adrenaline course through her body as she struggled to keep her car straight on the ice covered road. She finaly got the car straight again just as the truck driver came up behind her again.

“Psycho! Get away from me!” she screamed as she dug through her purse to get to her cell phone.

She pulled it out and began dialing the number. As she was about to hit call the car lurched again with another blow from the deranged truck driver. The hit caused her to drop her phone, which skidded and slid across the wet floor and under the seat, out of reach.

“No! No! No!” she yelled as the truck was getting closer. She pressed her foot down on the pedal going faster too now.

Then as she rounded a corner she saw them. Two small brake lights ahead of her. Her first instincts were to brake but then she realized that they weren’t stopping, they were speeding up, going the same speed she and the killer truck were going. As she kept driving, the truck came faster, she sped up and so did the car ahead of her. A sickening feeling overcame her stomach as she realized that they were going too fast. They would all slip, slide, crash, and she would die.

The car ahead of her sped up more and she decided to follow suit. The glowing red lights seemed to smile at her for figuring out what they were doing. The truck behind her bellow its loud horn as its engine roared with fury. She sped up more, following the car ahead of her, hoping they knew where they were going.

“Oh, Jesus! God, help me! Save me from this psycho! Please God, protect me!” she yelled as she suddenly saw the red lights stop.

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to swerve on the small icy road. She pressed the brake down hard and came to a skidding stop behind the car ahead of her. And behind her she saw the two headlights from before coming around the bend. The truck bellowed and fumed and was almost on top of her. She cried as she tried her door handle only to feel it frozen shut.

“Jesus! Jesus! My Jesus! Save me!” she screamed.

And then it happened. The truck gave a loud bellowing howl, the red lights in front of her seemed to flash twice, and then she shut her eyes. Her heart beat like a drum as she waited for the crunch of metal impacting metal. She waited to be sandwiched between the two cars. And in the second of waiting she realized she would be in heaven soon. And it all seemed okay. It all seemed alright.

But of course there was no crash. No broken glass or crumpled metal. No broken bones or bleeding body parts. After waiting what felt like an eternity she opened her eyes to find she was completely alone. She looked behind her and saw nothing. She looked ahead of her and the brake lights were gone. Unconsciously her hand went to the handle and it opened with ease.

She gasped and got out of the car on shaky legs. She walked to the back where the truck was a few seconds before but the only tracks in the snow were hers. She ran to the front to see where the red taillights had gone, but there weren’t any tracks at all. As if none of it had really happened. Shaking she got in the car and drove down the road to the small mall. After grabbing the few things on her list she drove home as fast as the ice would permit, her hands still shaking.

“What took you so long?” her sister called as she stepped inside.

“Nothing. Hey can you help me unload the car?” she asked as she placed the groceries on the kitchen table, still shaking.

“Sure.” Her sister said worried, then a few seconds later, “What happened!”

She ran outside to where her sister was standing after closing the trunk. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it. The entire back side of the car was pushed in, with two large circles where headlights would have been clearly imprinted in the crumpled metal from when the truck had bumped her. It had all really happened.