The Encounter

"I'd of shit my britches if that happened to me," the driver snorted. "Where did you ride out the rest of the storm?" the old man asked, noticing that the young man was clean and dry.

Pointing to a lane a few yards away, the man said, "A house at the end of that drive."

"Must have gotten your directions mixed up in the night," the older man informed him, "there aint been a house there in nearly twenty years. In fact, that land, and all the land on both sides of the road for a mile or more in both directions, is part of the State Park. There use to be a house up that drive, but it burnt down about twenty years ago. Aint even an outhouse along this road until you're out of the park."

"I don't understand," replied the youth, "I spent the night in a nice, warm house."

"Okay," the driver suggested, "why don't you tell me what happened last night."

"I was lost," the stranger began, " I was looking for a good place to turn around. Just as I came around that bend," he pointed to a curve about a half a mile away, "lightning flashed, and I saw that the bridge was out."

"What bridge?" the older man interrupted.

"The one just past that curve," the stranger replied.

"But that bridge aint out," the truck driver explained, "I used it to get here."

"You came from the opposite direction," recalled the now perplexed young man.

"Yes I did," the older man informed him, " I drove on down the road a piece to see if I could find you. Then I came back. Maybe the rain, and the shadows caused by the lightning, made it look like the bridge was gone."

"Yea, I guess you must be right," the young man agreed, "but it sure looked like it was out last night. Anyway, I hit the brakes, got turned around, and headed back this way. There was another lightning flash, then a crash. I think I was knocked out for a minute. When I opened my eyes, I saw that tree right next to my head. I was cold, wet, scared, and my face hurt. I remembered that I had an emergency kit in the trunk, so I decided to get into the back seat. It was still mostly dry back there, and I could reach the trunk by opening one side of the seat. Just as I was about to get in back, I spotted a light through the trees, and decided that a house and possible phone were better than the back seat."

"So you never got in back?" the old man queried.

"No," the youth returned.

Then I think I have your solution," the truck driver said with a smile.

During their entire conversation, the tow truck driver had been busy extricating the tree branch from the young man's car, and getting the car hooked up to the tow truck. Now the two got into the truck and headed for town.

"While working on your car, I noticed that one of your back seats was down, and that there was an emergency blanket and a first aid kit on the floor in the back. Most likely you got into the back, and either passed out from the blow on the head, or just feel asleep and dreamed the whole thing."

"I guess you must be right," the young man reasoned. "It seemed so real. But if there is no place that I could have been, and my emergency stuff was out, I must have just dreamed it."

Several hours, and many miles later, the young man stopped to eat. When he reached for his wallet, a piece of cloth fell out of his pocket. The item he retrieved from the floor was a white silk handkerchief that smelled of lilacs.