Patricia Riddle Gaddis

Storms have a way of skipping certain things altogether. Sometimes, during a hurricane, everything in a neighbourhood will be destroyed while one of the houses will remain with the porch furniture untouched,” the old lady said. Would you like a ride somewhere?” I asked, seeing that the rain had almost stopped. “That would be very sweet of you, my dear” she said.

I asked her to wait for me at the door while I pulled the car around to pick her up. It was still sprinkling rain, and I noticed that she did not have an umbrella. As I walked to my car, I glanced back and she smiled and raised her hand in a wave. So much like my grandmother, I thought, as I jumped into the car. As I drove up to the entrance, I didn’t see her anywhere

so I beeped my horn. She didn’t come out. Finally, after waiting a minute or two longer, I turned off the engine and hurried into the library to get her.

The power was now back on and I looked carefully throughout the library, but she was nowhere to be found. I asked one of the librarians if she had seen the lady that I’d talked with for over an hour. She seemed puzzled.

“I saw you sitting there in the lobby during the storm,” she said, “and I heard you quietly talking, but I didn’t see anyone else. In fact, I thought you were talking to someone on your cell phone.” I walked out of the library in shock. When I arrived home, I hurried into the backyard, my clothesline was dry!