Emergency Lane

In the middle of a deep starless night, I’m driving down the highway when I come across a car in the emergency lane ahead, hazards on. I slow down long before I’m anywhere near the car and I debate what my actions and their possible results might be. The paranoia guides my impulses and as I close distance on the car I opt out of helping this individual out of fear that it’s some illusive robbery scheme taking place at night’s peak. As I drive by I see a woman in tears behind her steering wheel, but I continue to drive, afraid my involvement would backfire. A week later I find out, through the news, that this woman took her life in the woods alongside the highway that night. I could have saved her.

By Anonymous Writer