Andrew was not used to the weather in Canada. Brought up in Malta, he had never experienced a really harsh winter and the first snowstorm took him by surprise. Had it been a few years later, he would never have attempted the drive home from work through a snowstorm.
But he wanted to get home and took off early, hoping to get there before the worst of it struck.
The snow was a fine frosting while he was on the urban roads but once he got out into the countryside, the full fury of the snowstorm hit him with its force.
His windscreen wipers could hardly keep up with the falling snow and he struggled to peer through to the narrow stretch of road lit by his headlights. The street lights had long since ended and he could not see a single light anywhere across the flat fields.
He felt as if he were the last human being in the world. He could feel himself getting tense and when the car skidded off the road, he almost screamed out loud. The car skated almost gracefully sideways, ending up with a dull thud in the bank of snow along the roadside.
The engine sputtered and died.
The falling snow seemed to suck all the sound out of the air, creating a thick blanket of silence. Andrew sat there in the dark for a moment. With the engine off, the car grew cold very quickly. Would the car start again?
Andrew rubbed his hands together to try to get some feeling back into them and tried the ignition again. It purred to life. He sent up a quiet prayer of thanks
With a big sigh, he turned the key, not daring to hope. The car whined a little but did not start. He tried again. Again, just a whine. He started to panic. No one knew where he was and his wife would not miss him for a while, until the time he would normally have arrived home. Long enough for him to die of cold.
And then he heard a tap. He stayed as still as possible to listen. Yes, there it was again. This time the tap became quite insistent. He could not see anything through the steamed-up window. He pulled down his sleeve and used it to rub a circle on the inside of his window.
He could hardly believe his eyes. In the dim light of the headlights, Andrew could see a man standing there. He could not make out his face, as he had his collar pulled up the side of his face and a hat pulled low over his ears. The man was pointing at the bonnet. Flustered by the accident, Andrew did not stop to think but pulled the lever to open the bonnet. The man disappeared behind it and a few seconds later, peered back around it to give Andrew the thumbs-up sign.
Andrew rubbed his hands together to try to get some feeling back into them and tried the ignition again. It purred to life. He sent up a quiet prayer of thanks. The bonnet shut with a muffled clunk and Andrew wound down his window again to thank the stranger. But there was no one there. He got out of the car, pulling his jacket up around his neck.
But there was no one and there were no footsteps in the virgin snow. Andrew stood there silently for a moment but he was terrified that the engine might stop again. He got back into his car and drove away, thinking that he would soon spot a village or at least a house close by, but it was miles before he saw any lights.
Who was the stranger who had probably saved his life? Could it have been...?
This is the fourth in a series of short stories The Sunday Times of Malta is running every Sunday. It is taken from The Unexplained Plus (Allied Publications) by Vanessa Macdonald. The first edition was published in 2001 and reprinted twice. It was republished, with added stories, as The Unexplained Plus. The Maltese version of the book, Ta’ Barra Minn Hawn (Klabb Kotba Maltin) is available from all leading bookstores and stationers and from www.bdlbooks.com.