SHORTSTORYTEST3 copy2

THE ROAD TO JOURNEY’S END
A SHORT STORY BY
Gary Greenfield
Author of the Haunt Dawgz Trilogy

“Bye Grandma, I will see you in about thirty minutes. I’m going to pick up your
prescriptions and some dinner,” Lisa called out as she retrieved her car keys from the
kitchen drawer. She quickly pulled on some black Converse low top shoes which
complimented her jeans that had two large holes in the knees. She entered her small
car that had been waiting for her in the old cracked driveway of her grandmothers
house. Lisa shivered a little bit as the nights were getting colder as the season had
recently changed from summer to fall. Lisa is a great girl in many respects. A college
senior, taking most of her courses now online to be around more for her rapidly aging
grandmother, for whom she is the primary caregiver. She volunteers at the hospital
when time permits, but only for a few hours at a time as to not leave grandma alone for
too long. She has lived with her grandmother since her parents passed away from a
traffic collision three years ago. She has one brother who is six years older, who lives
on the east coast with his family about 2,600 miles away. Lisa is a genuinely good
person with a kind soul who deserves only good things in life.
Lisa routinely runs errands for her grandmother, including to the pharmacy which is
located inside of the grocery store which makes it a lot easier. Lisa arrived at the
pharmacy, and as the pharmacist handed her a bag of three medications which her
grandmother must take, he commented, “Lisa, I don’t know how you do it. Caregiving
isn’t easy! You are one of this world’s good people. Tell grandma not to forget to take
all three medications on time, its important!” Lisa nodded her head and replied,
“Thanks, I will make sure she stays on schedule.” She picked up a precooked roasted
chicken, a ready made bag of salad, and some vanilla creme filled cookies that
grandma loves and will be excited to see. As Lisa exited the store a man from the
Rescue Mission asked Lisa if she could donate anything to help homeless get back on
their feet. Lisa reached in her wallet and placed a five dollar bill in the donation can.
She doesn’t have a lot of money, put she figures somebody probably needs the five
dollars more than her.
As she was exiting the driveway, she looked left and saw that an approaching pickup
truck was far down the road so she made a safe right turn and headed home. It didn’t
take long for the truck to catch up to Lisa with the excessive speed it was traveling. The
truck was speeding recklessly, traveling about seventy miles per hour in the posted
thirty five zone. The trucks driver flashed the high beams and activated the horn in one
steady honk for several seconds in an aggressive manner. Looking in her rear view
mirror Lisa could see the truck was a large, raised pickup with big tires, and the driver
was a male, maybe in his mid forties. Lisa waived her hand intending to communicate
to the angry driver she was sorry if she did anything wrong, which in reality, she didn’t.
Lisa’s mind went to other things, like grandma and the roasted chicken and salad she
picked up at the market. It was going to be a great meal, and perhaps a board game
after dinner would be a great way to spend the evening. Suddenly Lisa’s attention was
diverted to her rear view mirror, as the truck was now just a few feet behind her,
definitely tailgating, while flashing its high beam lights. Lisa suddenly got chills and her

fear level grew rapidly as she could see the man’s enraged face as he was on her tail
very closely. A caucasian man with a goatee type mustache and beard. Lisa picked up
the pace to gain some distance between the two vehicles, but she was driving a sixteen
year old, small four cylinder car. The truck’s driver easily caught up with Lisa and was
obviously following her, and mad. The driver’s actions caused Lisa to feel even colder
to the point of shaking as her fear level was now very high. Not knowing how to get out
of the situation, she started to cry.
She reached for her cell phone that was on the passenger seat. She dialed 911 but as
the 911 dispatcher was asking what the emergency actually was, Lisa could only say
she needed help. Before she could explain her plight, Lisa suddenly felt an impact to
the rear causing her to drop the phone on the passenger floorboard. Her body trembled
with fear as she said to herself, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She made a quick right
turn onto the canyon road that heads into the mountains hoping, actually praying, the
curves would slow the truck down. As she rounded the curves on the dark road, the
truck seemed to gain even more speed, as several times her rear bumper was struck.
“Is this guy for real? Is he trying to kill me because he feels I cut him off? What kind of
person does this?” Her questions were answered as the truck struck her right rear
corner as she rounded a right curve, causing her to go out of control, running over
bushes and metal mile marker signs on the narrow dirt shoulder. She regained control
as she crested the mountain, seeing the Pacific Ocean on the other side. As she tried
to speed away, the truck kept pace, with the crazed driver flashing the high beams and
honking the horn.
Lisa felt if she pulled over to say she was sorry to have angered the man, his out of
control anger could only lead to a bad outcome. She kept going, and she kept crying.
As she raced around a left hand curve, the truck accelerated and struck the rear of
Lisa’s little car hard enough to guide towards the cliff. Lisa’s car rolled over twice and
came to rest upside down on the dirt shoulder, with its right side being supported by a
large tree that saved Lisa from tumbling four hundred feet down over the side. But it
appeared it didn’t matter, as Lisa lied motionless behind the steering wheel, bleeding
profusely from several points on her head.
The man in the truck pulled over and got out, but his violent soul kept raging. Although
Lisa’s car was badly damaged and upside down, that wasn’t enough for the still angered
man. He reached behind the driver’s seat of his truck and pulled out a shotgun. He
placed a shotgun shell in the firing chamber, which is a sound pretty much anyone
would recognize. Although Lisa did not die in the crash, she was near death, about to
lose consciousness due to internal bleeding. She heard the sound of the shotgun being
loaded, and yelled to the man in one last effort to save her life, “Please! I didn’t mean
to cut you off! I am so sorry!” Her attention was quickly diverted from the man by the
now visible flames coming from the engine. Lisa yelled, NO!” as the flames worked
their way closer to the passenger compartment with each passing second.
She unbuckled her seat belt and attempted to crawl out of the now broken driver’s side
window of her upside down car. Although in tremendous pain from the crash and

fearing the crazy shotgun man, she tried to move but something was holding Lisa back
from leaving her seat. She looked at her right leg and saw that a jagged plastic piece of
the dashboard had lodged into her right thigh, with the other end still attached to the rest
of the dashboard. Tears ran down her face as she said, “Grandma, I love you. Mom,
Dad, I may be seeing you soon.” Lisa felt she was about to pass out, but mustered up
enough energy to one last time, try to free herself from at least the burning car. She
took a deep breath and leaned hard towards the driver’s window area hoping her
bodyweight would help free her leg. Her leg moved a few inches towards freedom but
she could not get her leg completely free. At this point the flames had entered the
cabin, and she burned her left hand as she swatted the flames away from her face. She
thought of giving up, and the pain level and exhaustion told her to, but only for a
moment. Despite the extreme pain, she tried one last time, pulling away from the
dashboard as hard as she could, screaming in tremendous pain but freeing her leg.
She rolled through the window onto the ground.
She rolled away from her car as the flames entered the interior, and in a matter of
seconds, the whole car was engulfed with fire. The excessive bleeding from her leg
coupled with internal bleeding caused Lisa to shake uncontrollably from the onset of
shock. Lisa heard the crazed man’s footsteps get closer as the leaves and small plants
underfoot got stepped on. The man got to within twenty feet of Lisa and shouted in an
angry tone, “You will never cut off anyone again!” Lisa noticed the bag of grandma’s
medication laying in the dirt a few feet away. The site of the medication gave Lisa a little
energy and hope, but she had nowhere to run, even if she was not injured. She was
shaking so hard her teeth chattered intensely, and it felt like ice was in her arms and
legs due to fear and shock. The truck driver walked to about ten feet of Lisa as he
raised the shotgun. Lisa softly whispered to herself, “Grandma, I tried,” and closed her
eyes in anticipation of the shotgun blast. She heard a loud shot ring out and then she
heard nothing, felt nothing.
Within a few seconds, Lisa heard a sound. “Lisa, Lisa,” the voice called out. She
thought, “So thats what God’s voice sounds like.” She felt God was talking to her as
she crossed into heaven. She again heard her name and then felt a hand on her
shoulder shaking her, attempting to regain Lisa’s consciousness. Lisa was able to only
open her right eye, as she suffered a big cut above her left eye, which was now swollen
shut. Through her barely open right eye she saw the shine of a police officer’s badge.
Her face made a slight smile which is all the pain would allow for, as a tremendous
sense of relief came over her. Paramedics arrived on scene and transported Lisa to the
hospital.
Lisa was rushed into surgery where doctors were able to remove broken glass, metal,
and plastic from her abdomen, and more importantly, stop the internal bleeding. They
also gave her one hundred and thirty three stitches to close her thigh wound. The next
day the on scene officer met with Lisa at the hospital. He explained the gunshot she
heard was his, just prior to the crazed man pulling the trigger of his shotgun. The officer
further told Lisa the 911 dispatcher was able to track her through the GPS on her
phone, and respond the closest officer to her location. Lisa said to the officer, “I am

sure glad my phone did not drop the call.” A few minutes later Lisa’s next door
neighbor, Mark, arrived in Lisa’s hospital room escorting her grandmother. Lisa’s face lit
up and she had an overwhelming sense of happiness and love in seeing her
grandmother, which she truly thought she would never do again. The police officer
advised they went to Lisa’s house last night and told Lisa’s grandma about the incident.
They also contacted Mark who kindly stayed with grandma last night, and gladly agreed
to care give until Lisa’s brother arrives in the afternoon from the east coast. The officer
told Lisa he saw the bag of medications laying on the dirt hillside, and gave them to
Lisa’s grandma so she would have them and stay on schedule.
Lisa could not thank the officer enough for saving her life and for making sure her
grandmother was okay. She also asked the officer to thank the 911 dispatcher for
staying on the line and coordinating the police response that saved her. The officer felt
warm inside, knowing he did a great thing for a person he doesn’t even know. He
smiled and replied, “Glad to help Lisa! Glad to help.” He continued, “Oh, I left the
chicken and salad in the wilderness. It probably was not worth saving, and I’m sure a
needy animal enjoyed the free meal.” The officer gave Lisa a smile. Lisa gave a
thumbs up and smiled back as she drifted off to sleep with thoughts for a wonderful
future that last night she wasn't sure she would live to see.