Driving in this terribly bitter cold made Adrian want to speed even more. He was going 97 in a 65, traveling back home from a family reunion two states away. Adrian was surprised his little ‘99 Oldsmobile Alero could still go this fast; he had never tried to see what the highest speed it would go was. What Adrian didn’t notice until now was how going such speeds has been sucking up his gas. He slowed down as he entered a small town. There weren’t many houses on the side of the highway, but Adrian saw a small gas station and decided to look down at his small gas gauge. “Empty?” he asked himself, “How can it be empty?”
Adrian pulled into the gas station and lined his old car up with the pump. Adrian turned off his car and got out of it quickly. He screwed the gas cap off and put the nozzle in and began fueling. Then he pulled his hood up and hid his hands in the sleeve of his black Columbia coat while standing and waiting for his Oldsmobile gas tank to fill up. It was about six degrees farenheit out, and Adrian was freezing. A sigh of relief came from him when the pump finally stopped. He quickly took the nozzle out with his cold hands and put it back where it belongs. Next, Adrian screwed the cold gas cap back on his car and ran into the gas station. He grabbed a small bag of Doritos and a twenty ounce bottle of Mountain Dew and brought his two items up to the counter to pay. The store clerk rang his things up and added his gas to the bill and told him his total. Adrian pulled his wallet out of his back jean pocket, opened the wallet, took out his debit card, and slid it to pay. He then took his receipt, grabbed his pop and chips, said thank you and walked out the doors back into the cold. As he was walking out, he looked to his left and saw a man sitting on the ground against the building.
The man looked like he was in his late thirties, maybe early fourties. He had a heavy winter coat on along with some overalls and bulky boots. When Adrian saw the man sitting there he stopped walking. He could tell that this man was colder than could be and that he had to have been sitting there for a while. The thing Adrian didn’t understand is he didn’t see the man sitting there on his way inside the gas station. He then realized that it was probably because he was in such a hurry that he didn’t pay attention much. Adrian took a step towards the man and asked him, “Do you need a lift somewhere?”
The man looked up instantly and got up onto his feet and held out his hand to shake with Adrian. They shook hands and the man replied with a “I don’t have anywhere to go.” Adrian didn’t know what to say, and he really didn’t react at all.
Adrian looked at the man in confusion and said, “Well, this is no place to be in this kind of weather. Hop in my car with me so you can warm up and we will figure out where to bring you once your body temperature is normal again.” The guy looked at Adrian and shook his head in agreeance. They walked over to the car with Adrian leading the way. As he opened the door, he looked up and chuckled, “It’s not the nicest car ever, but it gets me from place to place.”
The man just got in the car without replying to Adrian’s comment. He didn’t take offense to it, he just didn’t know what he should’ve said back. Adrian fired up his car and turned the defrost on first thing. The two of them sat in the car waiting for it to warm up. Adrian asked the homeless man if he had anywhere to go and stay at all. The man sat there and thought for a while and finally answered, “Yeah, I could stop by my parents house I guess. We don’t really get along much, but I am their son and I have no other choice.” Adrian could tell that the man was being reluctant.
Adrian put the car in drive and slowly drove away from the gas pump. The whole time he was thinking about what the other man had said; it kind of upset him. He finally looked at the man and asked, “It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” The man didn’t answer right away, so Adrian pulled out of the station parking lot and turned onto the road where he started off on. He could tell that things had been tough for this stranger he just let in his car.
Adrian didn’t know how to address the situation he was in. He wanted to ask the man what happened, but he did not want to invade the privacy of the man sitting next to him. He realized he didn’t even ask the man which direction to his parents home; he didn’t really think about it at all. He knew he had to know before he wasted the gas he just got. They weren’t far from the gas station that they left, but he still looked at the man instantly and asked him if he was driving in the right direction. The man looked back at Adrian and told him that he was. “About twenty miles straight, take a left at the second stoplight in the next town, go down that road for about six miles and it’s the big gray house on the right with a double garage,” the man gave Adrian the specific directions in a stern voice. Adrian just shook his head and kept driving. Now he was really starting to wonder why this man was being so quiet and distant. It was starting to worry him more and more each second. Then a thought hit him like a brick.
He remembered the scenes from the movie like it was playing in front of him- The Hitcher. His hands started to shake a little bit and suddenly got very sweaty without him even knowing it. His mind was stuck on what he had saw in the movie. The characters had no idea that the hitchhiker would be such a pschyo; they thought they would pick him up and give him a lift to where he needed to be. He didn’t show any signs of being harmful or having dangerous weapons on him. The hitchhiker in the movie hid these things so well. All Adrian could think about is whether the man he had picked up were the same. He had no idea how to tell. The man was being awkwardly quiet, Adrian knew that. Did he want to admit it? Probably not, because he was too frightened by the thought of being in a situation like he saw in the movie. He didn’t dare ask the man, but he needed to know somehow. He finally started to notice his sketchy driving and how his hands were shaking. He didn’t know what to do.
Finally, Adrian decided to glance at the man without making it obvious. The man was just sitting in the seat, looking out the passenger's window. There was nothing about the way he was sitting that made Adrian worry; the only thing that bothered him was the thought of him being a dangerous murderer. He was paranoid that it would happen, but he didn’t think about it when he offered the man a ride. He was so disappointed in himself because he knew he shouldn’t pick up strangers. He felt like it was the right thing to do; he wanted to help a person out. Adrian would want someone to pick him up or ask if he needed help, if he were in this man’s situation. He was starting to believe this was the wrong thing to do. All he could think about was the bad things that could happen.
The man just sat in the seat whole entire time; rarely moving at all. He didn’t even talk to Adrian unless he was talked to first, and when he did respond his answers were short. He was just too distant for Adrian to think that everything was normal. He got more paranoid every minute that passed, and he didn’t know what to do to avoid the feelings he got in the stomach. Eventually he decided to turn on the radio to ease the tension between himself and the man he picked up. He thought to himself “I can’t just stop here on the road and leave him here. I don’t know if he is actually a really good guy or if I’m putting my own life at risk by keeping him in here.” Thankfully, he could see the next town in front of him about three miles away.
He wasn’t sure if he should feel more relieved or more terrified. He was getting closer and closer to the truth. All he could do was drive. Once he got near town he started to slow down again. Adrian turned up the music on the radio to side track himself the best he could. When he turned it on “Nightmare” by Avenged Sevenfold was playing. Before he knew it he was at the second stoplight in this small town and waiting in the left turning lane. He held his foot slightly on the brake as the car crept up to the beginning of the lane. He turned the steering wheel counterclockwise after looking to see if the intersection was clear. He kept on driving. The man was still sitting there looking out the window when Adrian peered over at him. He couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen. He had no idea what to expect or what to do about the fear inside his body.
A couple minutes passed, yet nothing was said. They were about halfway down the road that the man told Adrian to take when Adrian heard the man moving around some; he quickly looked up at him while still driving. He couldn’t really tell what the man was doing. He didn’t realize it until he heard the man’s coat zipper go down. Adrian’s heart started to beat faster and faster, his palms were getting hotter, and he couldn’t concentrate on driving for the quick second it took the man next to him to ask to pull over. Adrian had no idea what to do now; he had to think as fast as he could. He pulled over on the side of the road right away, and noticed the man reaching inside his coat for something. Adrian put the car in park and froze. He could not move. The man opened the door and slowly took his arm and hand out of his coat. He had something in his hand; it was a letter envelope. He sat the envelope on the seat, shut the door, and began walking away from the car rapidly.
Adrian didn’t notice any of this happen. He was still froze; he was in shock. He sat there for a few minutes, not moving a muscle. Adrian finally came back to himself; he still sat there for a minute trying to figure out what just happened. He looked at the empty seat next to him and all he could see was the envelope. He picked it up and thought for a second before opening it. He knew it had to have been the man that left it there. He stared out his front windshield to see if the man was anywhere to be seen. He was gone; Adrian didn’t see him anywhere. He still had this weird feeling in his stomach.
Finally he decided to take a deep breath and open the mysterious envelope. He ripped it open and took out the paper that was inside. Once he read what the letter said he felt like a completely different person.

To the person who picked me up,

I want to thank you for what you have just done. I wasn’t sure if there were still people like you in the world. You risked a great number of things by taking in a stranger, one of those things being your life. You are one extremely generous person. I actually have very good amount of money; I was curious if there would be anyone to pick me up. I wanted to be in an unexpected place at this time. I would like to thank you for what you have done. The reward is in this envelope, with the address. Don’t ignore this gift, please? You really deserve it for what you have done for me. Take it as my way of giving thanks for people as kind as you. You are an incredible person.




Sincerely,





James

The letter described that the man was actually an extremely rich man. He explained that he wanted to pretend to be a homeless man to see if anyone would pick him up. He wanted to see what it would be like to be all alone, somewhere people wouldn’t expect him to be. Also in the envelope was a set of keys. Adrian supposed that they were keys to a car. Taped to the keys was a little piece of paper that had an address. Adrian remember that the road he was on was the same road name that was written on the paper. He put the car in drive once again and flipped a U-turn in the road to go back the other direction. He drove to the address written down and stopped his car. He sitting outside of a big garage that was on the outside of the road. He got out of his car and walked up to the small door on the side of the garage. He opened up the door and turned on the light switch that was beside the door on the inside of the garage. The lights went on and Adrian could not believe what he saw in front of him.
The view was great. It was a midnight blue 1964 Lincoln Continental. He knew it was his reward for what he did. The man told him in the letter that whatever was at the place of the address was now his. Adrian had never been so thankful for doing something that he thought would end his life.