I was driving to work this morning, on the
freeway driving into the rising sun, thinking of the day in front of
me. Ahead was a car like mine; boxy, practical and lived-in. The car
hit a bump or pothole in the road and something on the top of the car
moved, catching my attention. I got into the passing lane to go around,
but I kept trying to figure out what was on top of the car. It looked
like a cubical plastic container, the kind used to store food in the
refrigerator. What had caught my eye was that it had moved and was now
sort of wedged under one of the poles of the roof rack.
I
approached the car in the passing lane. I was right - it was a
container with something that looked like a thick liquid in it. I
passed the car and looked at the driver. She looked back at me. I
tried to signal to her that something was on her car, but how do you do
that? I pointed to my roof, but I am sure she had no idea why I was
doing that. Maybe she even thought I was flipping her off. She looked
like me, or at least how I imagine myself to look. A fortyish woman
looking a little haggard in the morning with too much on her mind.
Had
she put the container on the top of the car while she put other things
in and forgot it? If not, how had it gotten there? What was in it?
Smoothie? Spaghetti sauce? Soup? Chili? Was it one of her meals for
the day or was she taking it to someone else? Maybe it wasn't even food.
It was intact when I passed her, but would it still be there when she
reached her destination? If not, would it fly off her car and hit
another, spreading its contents over their windshield? That would be
unexpected on the highway.
I will never know how this story ends.
