Julie Reynolds looked over at her driving partner and regretted that she had answered the ride-sharing ad at her college in order to get home for Thanksgiving.
Ben Crowley had been one of her classmates in high school and he was still the same obnoxious jerk that he had been back in the day.
The first argument concerned the route that they should take over the pass. Julie preferred the faster route over I-90, but Ben wanted to take the scenic route over Chinook pass. Since Ben owned the vehicle, Julie was forced to go along with it.
About ten miles outside of Yakima, it began to snow. Julie looked over at Ben, but he seemed unconcerned. The snowfall continued to accelerate until it was almost impossible to see.
Somewhere near the summit the car stopped moving. "What are you doing?" Julie demanded.
"We're stuck" Ben answered simply. Before Julie could say anything else, he exited the car and began looking around.
As Julie watched through the windows to monitor Ben's progress, she noticed a dark shape emerge from the forest on the side of the road and collide with Ben who was removing snow from the under the front tires.
Julie opened her own door and watched in horror as Ben struggled with some sort of creature. Grabbing her purse, Julie frantically searched through the pockets until she found what she was looking for.
After arming her vial of pepper spray, Julie aimed the snout into the red eyes of the huge creature and gave it a long dose.
The thing howled in pain and ran back into the woods. Ben had numerous cuts and bruises but was not badly hurt. A short time later a tow truck was able to pull them out.
"Thank you for helping me." Ben finally remarked as they neared home.
"Next time I pick the travel route." Julie answered.
