Coldest Night

On a cool winter afternoon a man started his walk home from the poultry plant were he worked for 20 years in a small town in Arkansas. The wind was blowing strong and the temperature was around 40 to 45 degrees. The man was tired because before he started the walk home, the man had already worked a 14 hour shift in the cooler. As he walked down the paved road he had to move over onto the grass because there were drivers that were also leaving the plant going home. The reason the man was walking in the first place was car trouble and he was too proud to ask anyone for a ride. Every time a driver who knew him from work would stop and ask him if he needed a lift, he would just smile and say, "no thank you... i don't have far to walk." But truthfully the man had about 15 miles to walk to his home. All the man thought about was his wife and his five children ranging from the age of 3-15 years of age. He thought about all the questions his kids would probably ask him. He thought about the home cooked meal that his wife had prepared. The temperature had dropped to about 25 degrees and the night had come an hour before. The man was freezing. He thought about all the co-workers who had stopped and asked him for a ride earlier. He thought about how cold it was, after all he had been cold all day because he worked in the cooler. 'What if something happens to me?' he thought. 'What if this cold weather becomes too much for me and i freeze?' The temperature was suppose to drop another 10 degrees in the next hour. 'What will my family do?' he pondered. The man thought how his pride may have got the best of him. He thought how he should have accepted a ride home. The man jumped in fear as a driver pulled his vehicle close up to the walking man and honked his horn. The driver asked the man if he needed a ride. The man recognized the driver as being a co-worker who had stayed a couple of hours more to make some more over time. The freezing man gladly accepted the ride. As he got into the car, he immediately felt the warmth of the heater. The man was relieved and made it home safely to his wife and children. The aroma of his wife's freshly cooked beef stew filled the man's nostrils and the children all spoke at the same time as they tried to tell their dad what they had done that day.