October 27, 2014
“There are moments when even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of Hell. ” ~ Edgar Allan Poe
I want to open up this Halloween installment with one of my favorite urban legends.
A
woman working late at an office building walks to her car in the dark.
It is pouring down rain. As she opens her door she is approached by an
old woman. The old woman is cold and wet and states that her car has
broken down and she was in desperate need of a ride home. The woman of
course obliges as she feels pity for the old woman and allows her into
her car. She notices the old woman's extremely hairy arms.
Suspicious,
the woman makes an excuse to head back into the office; that she had
forgotten something in her hurry to leave work. She comes back a few
minutes later with the security guard.
They soon discover the old woman is really a man in a dress, sitting on an axe.
What makes these stories terrifying? What is it about the situation above that touches a part of our psyche and instills fear?
Is
it because we’re familiar with these vulnerable pockets of time where
these situations can present themselves? That it too can happen to us?
Now…. Let me tell you a TRUE story.
My
mother and my aunt were cruising along the streets one night in my
Mom’s car. They were teenagers. My mom pulled up to a stoplight and
noticed in her rearview mirror two shadows pass in front of the
headlights of the car behind her. One on either side.
Suddenly a man is at the passenger window, which is partially rolled down.
The
man asked if he could have a ride around the corner. He states that
his car has broken down and he motions to a car on the side of the
road. He says that his friend lives just around the corner and will be
able to help.
My
mother, being the smart girl who became a smart woman, said, “Where
does he live? If you give us his name, we’ll go down there and let him
know where you are.”
The man is insistent. “It’s just around the corner,” he said. “It’ll take just a few minutes.”
My
mother was growing concerned about the missing shadow that was still
unaccounted for… and the fact that the window was still rolled down a
few inches. The doors were locked but the situation did not feel right
to my mother.
She stood her ground. “Give us his name and his address and we’ll go and get him.”
Frustrated,
the man did as he was bid and gave her a name and an address. She took
off and went to the house he instructed. Knocked on the door. Gave
the name.
The man at the house had never heard that name in his life.
A few minutes later, they drove back down the road and the “stranded” car was gone.
Are
urban legends solely based off of myth? Or is there an element of
truth to them? Added to and glittered up over the years to further
illustrate the narrator’s point?
The Hairy-Armed Hitchhiker, as my favorite UL is called, did not teach me not to pick up old stranded ladies in a downpour.
But it DID show me that often nothing is what it seems and you must always be cautious.
That’s not such a bad lesson at the end of the day, no?
~ Angela Darling
© 2014 Amontillado Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
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