It was bitterly cold and it had snowed the night before. We lived in a small rural community in the Midwest. It was a 20-mile drive to the parking lot where we practiced.
Seth offered me a thermos
lid of coffee he was drinking as Ellen explained that she was going to take a
brief detour from our destination. She wanted to visit Tommy’s grave. Sadly,
Tommy her younger brother, had died in an accident the year before.
As Ellen drove into the
cemetery the road was covered in ice and snow. She drove up a steep incline and
stopped the car on the top of the hill, she got out. Seth and I watched as she
walked over to Tommy’s grave. Seth glanced back to where I sat, “It is way too
cold to be doing this today.”
Ellen must have agreed
because she hurried back to the car and turned on the engine. But when she put
the car into reverse in order to turn it around the back wheels just spun.
Seth got out and pushed but
the car didn’t budge. We were stuck. Ellen always the drama queen got out of
the car and started to argue with Seth. I huddled in the backseat freezing.
I gathered from their argument
that Ellen didn’t want to call her parents for help. They had not visited the
cemetery since their only son’s funeral and Ellen didn’t want to upset them. Ellen
started to pace back and forth which she tended to do when nervous.
Seth leaned against the passenger
side door. Ellen walked back over to her brother’s grave. We heard her state
loudly, “Tommy, send help.” Seth locked eyes with me, laughed and shook his
head.
I looked over to where Ellen
stood and was surprised to see a man with long blonde hair standing between her
and the car. I looked around but didn’t see any other cars.
Ellen addressed the man. “My
car is stuck, we can’t move it…” The man quietly smiled and replied, “ I know.”
Before Seth could protest
this stranger got in the car and turned on the engine. Noticing me in the back
seat he turned and smiled, “It’s okay.” He then backed up the car and turned it
around without the wheels spinning.
He got out of the car and
left the engine running and the driver’s side door open. I heard Ellen thanking
him profusely. “You asked for assistance--glad I could help.” He then walked around to the
back of the car.
Ellen and Seth got into the
car quickly. The three of us sat for a while in stunned silence. Ellen then
drove the car slowly down the hill. I looked out the rear window and the man
was not anywhere in sight.
More odd was the fact there
were no footprints in the snow near where he had stood at the back of the car.
Ellen looked at Seth and stated, “Did you notice he didn’t have a coat on?”
Ellen and I at the time
agreed that he must have been a guardian angel that Tommy sent at her request.
Seth refused to talk about the incident afterwards.
It has been years since I was
in high school but I still remember this man’s gentle blue eyes as he looked at
me with reassurance.
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