The Photograph

Some time ago, John, a truck driver was driving along the interstate highway on a mountain late at night. He had just finished delivering some cargo and now he was making his way home. It didn't take long to for him to drive down the mountain and onto the road leading to his home. A red traffic light penetrated the gloomy darkness and John braked his truck to a halt. He muttered as he tapped onto the steering wheel impatiently. He wanted to go home.

Finally, the light blinked green.

John stepped on the gas. The truck jolted forward into the silent darkness. John was tired, and he yawned to relieve his stress. After he recovered himself, he continued to look into the dark night from his windshield. It was then his eyes widened in horror.

A young girl in school clothes was running across the street.

John slammed the brakes and the lone truck skidded across the street, making loud screeching sounds and breaking the silence of night. When the truck came to a stop, John looked out the windshield, his rugged breaths the only sound he could hear. Shaking, John opened the door of his truck and looked outside, expecting some injured or torn up body lying on the ground.

But there wasn't any.

However, something bright reflected off the street. John stumbled towards it and found what seemed to be a recently shot photograph. There was a bright-eyed school girl in the photograph, and she was grinning from ear to ear. She had a bag slinked behind her shoulders and she was holding two fingers up in a peace sign.

John could've sworn that he saw the actual girl in the photo just then, but it could've been possibly a figment of his imagination. He was very tired and the possibility of hallucinating was high. Too wearied to think anything much but to thank goodness that he did not hit anyone, John pocketed the photo, went back into his truck and drove on into the night.

*****

The next day, John had woken up in his comfortable bed and had the most perfect day at home, watching television and eating Dunkin' Donuts. He had the day off since it was a holiday. Which holiday, John couldn't exactly remember, but he was glad that there was no work.

Time flies by fast when you're having fun, goes a famous saying.

For John, time flew by extremely fast. It was night in no time. John lazily removed his butt from the sofa and walked into the kitchen, bringing the dirty dinner dishes to the sink to wash. It was nearly midnight and almost everyone in the neighborhood had fallen asleep. As John was washing the dishes, he suddenly noticed something moving outside the kitchen window.

John lifted his head and suddenly saw a pale face staring back at him from the other side of the window. In shock, John dropped the dish he was washing and it shattered on the floor. He backed a few steps away from the kitchen window and found himself staring at the schoolgirl from the photo he picked up last night.

John finally came to his senses and rushed outside of his house. He knew that girl! The photograph must have belonged to her and he needed to return it back. When he reached to the place where the girl must've been in order to see him through his kitchen window, he saw no one. A chill suddenly went through John's body. Exactly who was that girl?

Suddenly, he saw the girl across the street. John saw her smile and wave at him. The girl grinned widely, and her lips smiled so widely that it seemed to rip her face in half. As if enticed, John stepped off the sidewalk and ran towards her, not seeing the incoming car.

*****

The drunk driver did not notice a man running frantically towards the opposite side of the road. In fact, everything in front of the drunk driver seemed to blur until the very moment the drunk driver felt the car crash into something and a sickening crunch that ensued. The drunk driver finally came to his senses. He stumbled out of the car and saw a badly ripped body not far.

"Areeeeee yyaaaaa okkkaeerrrryyyy?" The drunk driver slurred the words.

For a moment, he thought he saw a school girl standing next to the body. He blinked and there was no one. Nothing. Except for him and the mangled body.

The drunk driver stumbled forward and squinted at the body. It was a male's body, and the every part of it was mutilated by the crash. Except for one part. The hand.

The drunk driver saw a small square item glint in the hand. The drunk driver squatted and carefully pulled out the item. It was a photograph.

In the photograph was a sweet smiling schoolgirl, happy with a small backpack swung behind her shoulders.

And she was holding up three fingers.