A Journey in Time

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Part 3

 

“You made a promise to yourself, didn't you?”
    The voice completely startled him. His eyes shot open. Was he imagining? No, he definitely heard someone speak. 
  “I said, you made a promise to yourself, didn't you?”

    A short distance away, in the shadow of a giant boulder, stood a stranger near a large, flat rock.
    What on earth ...? The young hitchhiker was certain he had been completely alone on the highway.

 

    “Where in the world did he come from?” he thought to himself, bewildered. 
    Suddenly hopeful that the stranger might be his next ride, he looked around for a vehicle.

    There was none.

 

    “Do you have a few moments?”
    The stranger was of average height and medium build. He was dressed casually, in khaki trousers, with a light khaki cardigan over a black collared shirt. His voice was relaxed, his tone friendly and inviting. 

 

    “The next time I travel cross-country, I'm going to have my own set of wheels.”
    The young hitchhiker was confused.
    “I beg your pardon?” He approached the boulder, leaving the backpack where it was.

 

    “That's the promise you made.” The stranger gestured toward the highway. “You were fantasizing about coasting down the mountain.” The stranger smiled. “And,” he continued, “you promised yourself that the next time you travel cross country, it'll be with wheels.”
    The young hitchhiker was taken aback. It was what he had been thinking, just before he had stopped to rest. 

 

    The young hitchhiker's mind was racing.

    Who is this person? What is he doing here? Why no vehicle? 
    He stopped at the huge boulder.
    “Excuse me,” he said, “but how in the world did you know what I was thinking back there?”

 

    The stranger stood, calmly looking at the young hitchhiker. Finally, he spoke.
    “Well,” he said, his tone cordial, “this may not entirely answer your question, but forty years ago, on this same stretch of highway, during an adventure just like yours, I had the very same thought.”

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           Part 4.

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