A young lady wandered alone down an empty street, trees hanging over the road, blocking out the night sky. She knew it was late, and it was time to be home, so she pulled her coat tight around her, keeping her head down against the wind as she quickened her pace.

Another traveler came from the opposite direction. He was taller, and a bit older, but moving in much the same way–hurrying, walking towards home. He looked up and saw the girl approaching. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, checking the time…it was late. Crap, he thought. I can’t leave her alone out here, with all that could happen.

He’d recently read a disturbing story about a girl, wandering the streets alone at night, and how she’d suffered humiliation as well as injury. A man had stopped and offered her a ride, but instead left her bloody and broken at the side of the road. The perpetrator had not yet been caught.

His sense of duty to helping others won out over the inconvenience of helping…after all, she was walking, so she must not live far away.

As the two travelers got closer, he called to her. She glanced up and smiled at him, then turned her head back down. He was pleased by her smile, and that gave him encouragement to try the next step.

“Do you live far? I would like to walk you home–a lady shouldn’t walk alone on the streets at night.”

She looked at him again, a little fear in her eyes. Seeing that he posed no apparent danger, she smiled again. “I’d like that. And no, I don’t live far.”

He turned around, and the two began walking in the same direction. They chatted a bit, about this and that, quickly finding that they both enjoyed many of the same things. Her home was not far, the entire distance perhaps a quarter mile. When they got to her home, he asked, “Can I see you again soon?”

“I’d like that,” she said, a ghost of a smile lighting up her face. Her smile was infectious…he couldn’t help but to smile as well.

The girl entered her home, turning to wave at the guy who had walked her home. He waved back, and started on his own way home.

She turned, and found her mother standing in the hallway. Her mother looked out the window, “Who was that?”

“Mom, you won’t believe the guy I just met. I was on my way home, and he just decided to make sure I got home okay. We really clicked, so I told him he could see me again.”

Her mom looked out the window. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible for a very long time…he’s one of the living, and he’s quite young.”

“That’s not completely true,” the girl replied, as sirens began to wail in the distance. “I delayed him on his journey, and there’s a drunk driver on his path. If I’m not mistaken, they’ve already met.”

The sirens grew louder, and there was a knock at the door. The girl went and answered…it was the boy.