In the Rear View

It was pitch black outside and the headlights from my car lighted the mist that covered the road. The night air was freezing, which made the fact that the heater in my car had stopped working even worse. I was really tired that night and I was fighting to stay awake as I headed home. I was driving down Mullandry Dr. and thinking about what a horrible day I had. About how much better my job would be if it weren't for Marc Andrews. He was really trying my patience and even though I can't put my finger on it, I know that there isn't something right about him. I was deep in thought when all of the sudden a little boy stepped in the path of my car. I immediately snapped to attention as I slammed on the brakes. It happened so fast. All I could hear were the sounds of the tires squealing as the car began to slide erratically. I tried to turn the wheel, but there was nothing I could do. The car slid about ninety degrees and almost hit a tree. When it came to a stop, I was sweating and my heart felt like it was going to pound its way out of my chest. The smell of burning rubber was heavy in the air as I slowly opened the door and stepped out. I looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight. I wanted to run to the child but my jelly-filled legs wouldn't let me. As I walked up toward the incident, I was panting so heavily that I could barely see through my breath. I stepped up to the spot to find, that there was no one there. I gazed in amazement as I looked around. The only thing that was on the ground was the marks from my tires. As I turned around slowly I jumped back as my heart lept into my throat. The boy was just standing there staring at me. He was pale white and his eyes appeared to be almost non-existent. He had a doleful look on his face as he began to reach for me. I started to step back as I rubbed my eyes. Then, when I began to remove my hands from my face, I heard a voice behind me. I jumped and spun around as I began to shriek. There was a man standing there. He appeared to be in his early thirties with short brown hair and a five o'clock shadow. He wore faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a red and black flannel over it.

"Hey buddy, is everything okay?" he asked in a southern accent.

I turned and looked ahead and the boy was gone. I was just starring at my car through the fog. "Yeah, everything is fine," I said as I turned back around to the man. "I just thought there was some, animal that ran in front of my car. I was probably driving a little too fast, and it's been such a long day, I, um, I better get going." I began to walk toward the car in utter disbelief as to what had occurred.

"Alright, well, you just take 'er easy partner."

I guess he then turned and headed for his house. I didn't care to turn back. As I got in my car and started to slowly drive away I kept looking in the rear view mirror.

I got home just as the rain started to fall.