The Cab Ride (2012 Edit)
The Cab Ride
**I arrived at the address and honked the horn. The sun had set hours ago on Christmas Eve. People would normally have a bit upset about working on a holiday, but I didn't really mind.
I looked at the clock on my radio. It read "2:30 am". I sat for several moments before honking once. **
I glanced outside my window, looking over the small home. It was an unattractive, but solid-looking light gray. The small structure was small and compact. It had a small red door and two windows. I noticed a dim, flickering light was on nearby one of the windows. I figured that the house was old and had poor electrical connections. As I continued to gaze at the window, the light inside went out. ** I waited several more minutes, before I got out of my cab and padded to the door and knocked.**
*"Just a minute," answered a frail, elderly voice. My tail swished back and forth impatiently. The sound of an object being dragged across the floor came from within. Moments later, it stopped. *
** After a long pause, the door opened, revealing a small old fox in her 90's. She stood silently before me, wearing a charming old lady smile. Her graying fur stood out against her clothes. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 40's movie. She wore white gloves over her black paws, small pearl earrings, and wore a pair of spectacles. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.**
**I glanced inside to look around her place. The old house looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All of the furniture were covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters, as I expected. In a corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
"I would normally invite you in and offer a drink," she said, "But as you can see, my home isn't, well, home anymore." She motioned towards the virtually empty space.**
I nodded, "It's okay, it wouldn't be an appropriate thing to do anyways. So... uh, are you moving or something?" I asked stupidly. She flashed her teeth at me. Her smile was very warm and caring.
"I guess you can say that," she answered. I looked at her, puzzled. ** We stood in silence for a moment before she began. "Would you carry my bag out to the car for me?" she asked. I nodded and took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the vixen. She took my arm and we padded slowly toward the curb.**
**She kept thanking me for my kindness as we approached the cab.
"It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."**
"Oh, you're such a good young otter," she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
*"Oh, I don't mind," she said, '"I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice." I froze, wide-eyed and looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued in a soft voice. "And the doctor says I don't have very long." *
I thought for a moment, then reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked quietly.
For the next two hours, we drove through the brightly lit city. She told me numerous stories of her childhood as I just listened silently.
We drove by a large old hotel. It was gleaming from all the white Christmas lights strung high along the walls. Around half of the many windows were lit. She told me this was where she had once worked as an elevator operator. It was one of the historic hotels here. It was well cared for, but it will never again look as it did in it's prime. I tried to imagine how it once may have looked...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
** The building was brightly lit, but this time, from all the occupied rooms. All kinds of furs were swarming in and out of the hotel. A large majority of the guests were dressed lavishly. Inside the lobby, everyone was talking exciteldy, laughing loudly, and socializing with anyone they could talk to. Near the elevators, a young vixen in a hotel uniform was waiting patiently for passengers. It was the same fox in the back seat of my cab, but here, she was decades younger, maybe sixteen years old. She politely smiled and greeted the incoming guests. Many moments pass and other furs come and go. Then from the front end of the lobby, an oddly familiar-looking otter, who was dressed very formally, padded up to the elevator, and she smiled at him. She raised a paw to tap his shoulder...**
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
**"Ahem..." I jumped a little as a paw tapped my shoulder, "I believe we have more places to visit."
The fox was smiling at my reaction.**
I just laughed and apologized, "Sorry, my mind was wandering." I put the car in drive and we continued on.
She had me pull up to the front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a young kit and where she had first met her husband. It was a relatively clean looking building. It was a low but wide structure, filled with all kinds of furniture. It was closed this late at night though, so I couldn't see inside the warehouse's main storage area. I assumed she had some kind of childhood experience here.
"This is where I met my husband," she said, almost as if reading my mind. I nodded slowly. I imagined what it would have been like to be at that dance all those years ago...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
** The room was clear, except for a stage, a group of tables, and a few people padding around, attempting to decorate the place. I saw the young vixen, but this time, several years older. She was helping with the preparations for the dance. As she worked, she convered with a few of her girlfriends, gossiping and whatnot. As they spoke, a young fox, around her age, walked up to her and made an attempt at small talk. She just giggled and turned to him, a soft grin spread on both their faces. He immediately asked her a question and she nodded eagerly in response. He walked away with a huge smile on his face as she turned back to her friends. They were all squealing like little school girls and immediately began asking her questions about the handsome**
fox.
Eventually, the room was filled with many young furs, just talking and dancing. The vixen was now dancing with the young fox from before. She had her head resting on his shoulder as they swayed back and forth to the music. Moments later, she lifted her head, looked into his deep, blue eyes, and whispered something that was nearly inaudible, even to his very sensitive ears. He smiled in response, looked into her beautiful, hazel eyes and mouthed,
"I love you too..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I snapped out of my trance and looked into the rear-view mirror. She was just staring out the window.
I began driving when she gave the okay.
"Do you mind if we go somewhere special?" the fox asked, "It's a little farther from the city though."
"No, I don't mind at all," I replied. "Actually, I'm more than happy to take you anywhere you'd like."
"Thank you," she said with genuine sincerity. We both sat there and smiled into the darkness.
She gave me the address of a home somewhere on the outskirts of the city. The area was a quiet part of the suburbs. Most of the houses were old, but they were well cared for. We drove through the neighborhood slowly. She revealed that this was where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds.
I drove until she told me to stop in front of a large single story house. It's walls were painted white and had many windows with light blue shutters. The roof was covered with red ceramic shingles. There were multiple colored lights strung around the house, making it look like a giant gingerbread house. There were also many Christmas-ish lawn ornaments scattered around the lawn. I pictured the vixen and her husband living there together again...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
** It was definitely evening. The sun was beginning to set behind the distant mountains. On the porch of the house, the old fox couple was sitting on two large chairs, side-by-side. They were just talking and laughing just like when they were young and headstrong. They took turns reciting stories about the things they did years ago as children. While it was her turn, her husband quickly kissed her lips, catching her off guard. She giggled excessively, and smiled. She leaned towards him and **** they kissed again.**
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Suddenly, I felt a twinge of sorrow and anguish hit me as I realized that this was it for her. Her life was about to end. I also realized that her husband probably wasn't alive. I turned to her to ask, "Um, I'd like to know, If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your husband?" I asked this cautiously. *
She kept her gaze out the window and sighed, "I guess he had lived his life through. He went peacefully and painlessly though. His heart just stopped one night while we were sleeping." she paused, either deep in thought, or in pain. "It was in that room." she said pointing at the window to the far right.
**"I'm so sorry, " I apologized, having regretted asking her about him.
She asked me if we could leave, so I began to drive down the street slowly. As the distance between the cab and the house grew, she continued to look at the house until it was out of sight. She then turned towards the front of the cab, tears streaming down her face, and that ever-present smile softly gleaming at me. I couldn't help but let a single tear drop as I also smiled.**
----
I continued to drive around as she pointed out more interesting locations. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would just sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."
----
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I got out and opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The vixen was already seated in a wheelchair.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching a paw into her purse.
"Nothing," I replied.
"You have to make a living," she answered.
"There are other passengers," I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
"You gave an old fox a little moment of joy," she said happily. "Thank you."
**I squeezed her paw, took one last look at her wise smile, and turned around. I walked into the dim morning light to my cab.
**
Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life...
----
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that fox had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? Wait! What was her name!? The whole six hours, and I didn't ask her for a name. Well, a name isn't important. The lesson I learned is important. I will always remember the old vixen, and the life she lived.
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
/////////////////////////////////
We're conditioned to think that O** UR** lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us fleetingly and blissfully unaware, beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small moment.
People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said , but they will always remember _ how you made them feel. _
You can't expect people to understand how one little act of selflessness can help a person...
But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sending it on and reminding us that often it is the random acts of kindness that most benefit all of us.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance." ~ Unknown
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Hi people! This isn't my story. I got it as some email. The kind where "You have to forward this to [insert number] people or [insert bad consequence] blah blah blah".
Well actually, I added a lot more detail, more depth to both characters, and adapted it so the characters weren't... well, humans. The original is still floating around inside, so if you've received the email before, it'll be familiar. Thanks for reading. -- Myron
(Had to re-upload because the original copy on SF was gone or something.)
EDIT (10/03/2012): I found the original source, which revealed that this actually happened in real life. The guy who drove the cab wrote this after having experienced it first-hand. But yeah, sorry for, once again, posting this! I just had to edit it cause the older drafts bothered me.