David cruised down the countryside road at 90 miles per hour. His headlights shone in front of him as he turned on to the mountain road. Loud rock and roll music blared out of his new sound system while he shifted into gear five.

“I love this.” He told himself, “I’m here in college and I don’t have to obey my parents, or anybody.”

Turning on Metallica’s “Master of puppets” he listened intently on the hard metal guitar solo. The bass guitar banged and clashed with the electric guitar. Head banging, he closed his eyes for only a second. When he opened them, he saw a girl about his age flailing wildly at him. Slamming on the brakes, his car came to a screeching halt. Rushing up to the window, the girl looked into his eyes.

“Please” She begged, “Help me, I’m far from home and I’m lost.”

David unlocked the passenger door.

“Alright, this is going to be good.” He told himself.

“Get in.” He told the girl.

“Thank you so much, sir.” The girl said.

Opening the passenger door, David suddenly heard a boy’s scream that sounded very familiar.

“That’s a mountain lion.” She said.

David nodded, turned off the music, and drove more slowly, but still over the speed limit.

“What’s your name?” David asked.

“Emily.” The girl said.

David nodded and glanced at her clothes. She wore a black mini skirt and a black shirt. Long blonde hair flowed down her shoulders as she smiled. All in all, she was dead out gorgeous.

“How did you end up here?” David asked.

“My boyfriend and I were up here to do you know what….”

“I get it.”

“Good, it’s embarrassing to tell people that I hike for fun.”


“Wait, you were hiking?”

“Yes, and making out but still, we were hiking. Any who, we were hiking along and after the hike, we got into his car and started to drive off.”

“So how did a beautiful creature like you, baby end up here?”

“You know the old Latin phrase: Sum ad Pulchram, sum ad mortem?”

“No, I don’t like old stuff, especially ladies.”

“Well, roughly translated it means: I am near a beautiful creature, I am near death.”

“Weird.”

“You see that ledge there?”

David looked up ahead, the winding road curved sudden and revealed a drop off into a wooden area below.

“Yes, what about it?” David asked.

“That’s how I got up here.”

“How?”

“Well you remember about that phrase, I am near beauty, I am near death?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That place is where I had the accident” She spoke gravely, “And died.”

Suddenly, the car sped up and went over the ledge of the cliff. And when David screamed, he now knew why the scream he heard earlier was so familiar…it was his.