The cabbie was on his way home, driving mindfully down the dark, suburban streets lined with old maples, and intermittently lighted by Victorian styled street lights.
He enjoyed watching the brightly colored leaves dropping from the branches, bouncing off the rounded hood of his cab, to pile on the sides of the streets.
He looked into his rear view mirror and smiled, seeing the leaves swirl and dance in the passing breeze from his cab.
When he looked forward, he gasped, and hit his brakes. Standing in the street, beside the curb, was a lovely young woman in her early twenties. She was wearing a white party dress and black, patent leather shoes.
Although she had a white shawl, the cabbie saw it was too thin to be any real protection against the late October evening chill. Although he was on his way home, he couldn't leave her standing in the road.
He reached over and rolled down the passenger window. "Hello, Miss. Do you need a lift?"
The young woman smiled, crouching a little to look in at him. "I'm afraid I don't have any money with me. My boyfriend and I had an argument and he left me here."
That angered the cabbie. What kind of jerk would put a young woman out in the middle of the night, on a lonely street, to walk home? "Don't worry about that," he assured her. "I'll see that you get home."
"Thank you so much," she said, and he could hear the catch in her throat and realized, despite her brave exterior, she'd been truly frightened at her predicament. She got into the back seat and settled. "It's not really that far," she said, sounding apologetic. "Just a few blocks farther along."
"Those shoes were made for dancing, not hiking," kidded the cabbie, pulling away from the curb. "Is that where you were? Up at the club?" There was really only one place where a young woman dressed the way she was, would go to dance, and that was the local country club.
"Yes, we were. That is, my friends and I were at the club. I love to dance. Do you?"
"I've been known to scuff up the floors some," he grinned, glancing in the rear view mirror. She laughed, almost musically at his remark, and her dark curls bounced.
"I'm sure you're a wonderful dancer," she said, and she glanced out the passenger window as they passed under a pool of lamp light. "We're almost at the cemetery gates. My house is just beyond it."
The cabbie gave a small shiver. "I don't think I could live so close to that cemetery," he remarked. "It's supposed to be haunted, you know."
"Is it?" she inquired, dark eyes bright with amused interest.
"Well, people say it is, you know," said the cabbie with a deferential shrug. "I've never seen anything strange, myself. But I've heard stories."
"I'd love to hear one, if it's not too long," encouraged the girl.
"I can make it short," laughed the cabbie. "Story goes that on late nights, when the moon is full, a girl in a white nightgown comes out of the graveyard, looking for a ride home."
"My goodness! In her nightgown?"
The cabbie laughed. "That's what they say, all dressed in white. Maybe it's a wedding dress, not a nightgown."
"Or a party dress?" teased the girl.
He looked in the rear view mirror and saw her smile. "Sure, why not?" They both laughed. "Story goes that people who give her a ride to her place turn around to see she gets safely out of their cars, and she's just gone. Poof. They say the back door doesn't open, she's just gone."
"How spooky!" declared the young woman. "Oh, there's my house, just ahead and on the right, beyond the cemetery fence."
"I see the lights," acknowledged the cabbie. "That's not all, sometimes somebody will knock on the door of the house and tell the people about the girl and they'll be told about how it sounds like their daughter, or granddaughter, who died in a car crash on her way home."
"That makes you wonder what she was doing in a nightgown, doesn't it?"
The cabbie laughed at that. "You're right, I suppose it does. here we are," he announced, pulling over to the curb before an immaculate, two story house brightly decorated for Halloween. "Safe and sound. Hope I didn't scare you with that story."
The girl in the back seat said nothing.
"Miss?" He looked into the rear view mirror. The back seat was empty. "Miss?" he began, turning around to look in the back seat.
"Boo!" the girl exclaimed, popping up from where she'd ducked out of his view.
He jumped back, causing his steering wheel horn to give a little beep. "Holy!" Then he grinned and laughed along with her.
"I hope I didn't scare YOU," she teased him, reaching forward to lay a hand on his shoulder briefly. "Thank you so much for the ride. It was very kind of you."
She opened the back door and slipped out of the cab, her full white party dress rustling.
"Always here to help a damsel in distress," said the cabbie. "Good night, now."
"Good night," said the young woman, closing the door and stepping onto the curb in front of her house. She turned to wave good bye to the driver.
The street was deserted.
She looked up and down in either direction, but there wasn't a single car moving, although leaves a little farther down the street kicked up and swirled in an errant breeze.
A thoughtful smile crossed her lips. "What a nice man." And, still smiling, she walked up the sidewalk to her home.