Life in the newspaper business has many twists and turns. Even more so now with so many papers going out of business. Employment can be hard to come by so just finding work of any kind is always appreciated. Recently, I was hired by The Thornhill Daily, a smaller paper in a rural area and today was my first assignment. My name? Maxwell, Digger Maxwell.
Sugar Puss Road is one of those two lane country roads with trees lining either side. You could drive for miles without seeing a single house or business. It was on this road that my assignment turned more interesting than I could have ever imagined. It was early morning but the skies were clear and the sun was shining, giving me good vision to see far down the road, good enough to see someone walking by the side. As I got closer, I could tell it was a woman. She was wearing cut off shorts and a white top of some kind that was covered by her long flowing dirty blonde hair. She was also carrying a brown suitcase.
As I drew even closer, she turned and saw me coming. Being in the newspaper business as long as I have gave me a keen insight that she wanted to hitch a ride. That and the fact she had her thumb out. I pulled over and rolled down the passenger side window. She pulled her sunglasses off and said "Could you give me lift?" I told her I was on an assignment but could drive her at least part of the way since we were heading in the same direction. I got out of the car and opened the trunk so she could put her suitcase in it. Then we got back in the car and went on our way.
We made some small talk about the weather and such when she asked if it would be possible for me to drive her to her destination. As it turned out, it wasn't all that far out of my way, but even so, I was still on assignment, and if she really wanted me to take her, she was going to have to do something for me first.