Soul Magic
THE BROKEN PROMISE
By Ellie Braun-Haley
A number of years ago
I worked for a college and taught for the college two days of each week in the
city and for two days of the week I was on the road traveling for this same
college taking my courses out into some of the towns in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Often I picked up hitchhikers. This practice caused a lot of concern for my
family and to ease their worries I had to promise I would cease. This is the
story of what happened one night in
The Broken Promise
She was returning from teaching out in a small community. It
was only
She remembered back to when she had first started teaching
out in the small communities. In those days she was constantly picking up
hitchhikers. She smiled as she remembered the one young 16-year-old fellow she
picked up one day. He kept saying, “Haven't we met somewhere?” They laughed long
and hard when they remembered that she had given him a ride a month previously
on the same road. She thought back to the day when she was on the northern
route and had given a ride to a man. He was seated before she realized he was
drunk and a talker. He talked and talked and made little sense. Finally with
great relief she saw another hiker and picked up that one to keep the first
company.
Her family became greatly concerned about her welfare over
the hitchhikers but she continued the practice until the day her sister talked
to her. Her sister's friend had been shot in the head by a hitchhiker, all
because the girl stopped out of mercy to help a man in a storm.
The storm that night brought the memories. They'd gone to
school with this girl. She was gentle and thoughtful. To die because of an act
of goodness did not make sense. That was when the family heard the promise. 'No
more hitchhikers, I promise!'
“Well, I won't see a hitchhiker on this road,” she thought. “It
is unlikely I'll see a car!”
She came out of a slight curve and slowed because a car was
parked on the road ahead. “These little highways just don't have any shoulders,”
she thought. Then she saw the man waving. He was in trouble and she slowed
more. He looked like he was in trouble but what if he wasn't? A screwdriver on
the floor was the only protection she had.
In a flash she remembered the promise. She remembered the
old school friend, dead because of a hitchhiker. She knew this road well though
and the chances of another car coming along to help were stacked well against
this lone motorist.
She pulled over and rolled down the window. She had pulled
ahead of the stranded car. Now as he ran toward the car in the dark she shook
with fear and yet knew if he was truly in need she could not leave him here in
this storm.
The stranger explained that his car was dead. She knew she
had to break the promise and hoped she would live to see her children that
night. She told him to get in. They drove for an hour into the next city and
she took him to a telephone booth. She waited until he had made a call. When he
reported back to her that a family member would soon be there for him, she
wished him well and left.
Tears fell on her cheeks as she drove away. It felt as
though she had been holding her breath for an hour. “I hope they'll understand
why I had to break my promise. I think I've been watched over this night!”
— © by Ellie Braun-Haley
View more of Ellie’s stories at:
http://www.eaglecreek.org/goodness.html
For more Soul Magic visit: http://www.sfpnn.com/soul_magic.htm