Driven to Destiny

Chapter One - Sampson

There's an urban legend about a taxi driver who doesn't take you where you want, but where you need to go. As far as legends go this one has been pretty consistent in all the details. First, the driver is a man with a different name every time. Next, he doesn't say anything except to ask where you are going and to say goodby. Finally, everyone who has gotten a ride from him has found exactly what they need. It didn't matter if it was a young man in need of a job or a mother looking for her lost child of 10 years, they all found what they were missing. Their happiness and home.

Home. A word so foreign to me I'm not even sure I understand the concept of it anymore. It's right up there with 'love' and 'family'. I guess to understand one you have to at least have one of the others.

I have a family. And a house. But not a home.

Maybe that's the reason I'm standing on the corner of the street trying to wave down a taxi, praying that maybe the legend is true. That maybe there's someone out there who can help me find my own home.

I've saved enough for a few nights of freedom. I have to prove to myself that the world isn't as terrible as she says it is. That I won't get kidnapped and raped the second I step over the threshold. That every man isn't terrible and a liar. That I am not a whore, and brainless, and worthless. Even if I can only sneak out for tonight, that will be enough.

Waving my arm wildly at another pair of headlights, I try to remember what it was I read in the books about trying to get a taxi. What's it waving? Or maybe it was just holding my hand out. Ah! Thats it. I need to close my fist, keep my thumb out, and stick my arm out. Oh wait, maybe that's if I want to hitchhike. I can't remember. The world is a difficult place.

"Hey, Little bird, did you need a ride?"

"Huh? Oh!" jumping slightly as the drivers words shook me out of my thoughts about the proper way to pick up a taxi. "Yes. Yes! I would like a ride."

"Hop on in then, Little Bird." he chuckled, "I'll get you where you need to go."

"Oh thank goodness," I sigh opening the cab door and climbing in. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a taxi if I didn't know some secret hand signal or something."

Chuckling he turns in his seat to get a better look at me. Knowing that all he's seeing is dirty blonde hair and sad green eyes drowning in to big of clothing, I blush and glance down before returning my gaze to him. The laugh wrinkles around his eyes and mouth tell me he's a kind and happy soul. The gray hair with one blue streak combed back show that he's lived a long life but he's not done being young. And the sadness hidden beneath the joy in his eyes makes me want to listen to his life story and find out why it's still lingering there.

His eyes roam my face before settling back on my own green orbs. As he's studying them I feel as though he can see every self doubt and uncertainty in me, as well as every other secret I have hidden. After searching for a second he seems to find what he was looking for, nodding his head in confirmation. He shoots me one more grin before asking where I'm headed.

"Anywhere, nowhere. How about somewhere close for this amount?" I say, pulling out a small portion of the amount I'd saved. "I just want one night out to be free that even a park near here would be interesting enough to me. I just moved here though and don't know where to go."

"Well Little bird, you're in luck! You got the best taxi driver in Charleston." His grin so contagious I couldn't help but return it. "My names Sampson, Little bird, and I'll be your escort for tonight. Make sure you buckle up ok? Safety first."

Giggling a little, I push the seatbelt into the buckle and lean back into the seat. His cheerfulness and kind eyes help settle some of the nerves that had been building the entire time since I'd left my mothers house. I knew if she found out I'd left I would be in a world of pain. She doesn't take lightly to disobedience.