The Hitchhiker

You find her outside of town, thumbing for a ride alongside the rural route you happened to be driving down. She's dripping wet due to the cold rain pouring down, her red hair slicked down against her head. With her other hand, she holds a drenched windbreaker against her young chest as she shivers beneath the biting wind.

Taking a chance, you pull your mud-splattered black Ford F-150 over to the side of the road. You watch the young woman run up to your truck through the rearview mirror. As she opens the passenger side door, a breath of the bleak wind fills the cab with the storm’s bitterness. The red-haired woman closes the door quickly, occluding the damp dreariness of the day away.

You look at her face and notice that not all the dampness on her pale cheeks is from the rain.

As you pull back onto the paved road, you wonder why she was out alone in the driving downpour.

“So what were you doing out in the rain?” you ask, as her shivering begins to fade in the gentle heat in the cab.

She looks up at you, tears still falling from her eyes.

“My stepfather banished me from my home,” she says, her voice quivering from the remaining chill in her bones.

“Why would he do that?”

“He never wanted me. He tolerated me because he had my mother wrapped around his finger. When she passed away last week, my mother had left him everything.”

“Did he give you anything at all when he cast you out?”

“No,” she sobs. “All I have is the clothes on my back, what I would be wearing to school today.”

“How long were you in the rain?”

“Almost two hours. I was afraid I would die in the cold until you showed up. I hadn’t seen any other cars go by til you.”

“It is a deserted road for the most part. Just the locals drive on it. Guess you were lucky I came by today.”

The young woman nods, sniffling.

“There, there,” you say. “Don’t you worry. I’ll take you to my place and get you into a warm shower and some dry clothes. It’ll only be a couple more hours. My house is pretty deep in the hills. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes,” the redhead nods, a hopeful smile on her face. "I'm Doe. Thank you so much."