As I was driving out in the middle of nowhere I found myself counting  roadkill as a distraction from the loneliness on the highway.  It had been hours since I had seen another car.   The speed limit was 80 and I was  probably doing  closer to 90 MPH.  70,  71, 72, I  continued counting roadkill.  I fantasized about   collecting all the skulls to  create some sort of monument.  A bit gruesome but I was sick of listening to the  same 3 cd’s and  radio stations   were not coming in.

 It was at roadkill  76 that as I sped passed I  glanced in my  rearview mirror and  saw the road kill stand up.  It looked like it was a man but I was moving  fast.  It was about  10 miles before I came to an exit and I  decided to   head back . The thought of someone being outside in the 104 degree heat with nothing around  was gnawing at me.  I  headed back west and  it was  2 miles to an  exit to  turn around. Maybe I was seeing things.  Once  I was heading  east again I  slowed down  and continued my game of counting  roadkill.  Then I saw him  lying on the side of the road. I stopped and  gave him water and he drank. I asked him if i could  take him somewhere and he looked at me and said, I am not getting in an automobile with a white woman. I  went to my car and  put all my water and  gatorade in a garbage bag and  left it with him. He looked at me and nodded as if to say thank you.  After leaving  him on the side of the road I  called 911 to  report a man sleeping next to roadkill on the highway and  shared that he would not let me  give him a lift.  I haven’t  been able to stop thinking about him.