Don’t Stop the Car
I was driving one day, music low, windows cracked just enough for the breeze to kiss my face. The road stretched wide ahead, quiet, open, promising. I was in my lane, minding my journey, until I saw someone flagging me down. He looked harmless enough, even kind. So, I slowed down. I stopped the car. He smiled, said all the right things. Claimed he was headed in the same direction. Spoke of shared destinations, peace, love, purpose, all the places I had written on my soul’s itinerary. I believed him. I made room for him in the passenger seat of my life. At first, the ride felt light. The conversation flowed. The miles disappeared behind us. But soon, the energy shifted. The air got heavy. His directions grew louder than my own intuition. He reached for the wheel not to guide, but to control. I found myself driving down roads I didn’t recognize, questioning how I’d ended up so far from where I was headed. That’s the thing about stopping for the wrong people: they don’t just take up...