The Last Ride

I've found a really interesting short story told from the point of view of a New York City taxi driver. It's about an old woman that he gives a ride to. While he is driving her around, she takes him all over downtown, showing him things like her old house and a dance studio she liked to go to. This story really made me wonder about the life I would like to lead, and how the smallest acts of compassion can affect other people's lives. The story is called The Last Ride, and you can find it on the webpage Stories to Make You Think.

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes, I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift, I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.

"Just a minute!" answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated." "Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?" Downtown was a long drive, I thought to myself. "It's not the shortest way." I answered quickly. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice." I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left", she continued in a soft voice. "The doctor says I don't have very long." I quietly reached over and shut off the meter."What route would you like me to take?" I asked. 
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now." We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" She asked, reaching into her purse. "Nothing", I said in reply. "You have to make a living", she protested. "There are other passengers", I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy", she said. "Thank you." I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware - beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Winterling

* * * * */ Five Stars

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy, (some light) Humor, Suspense, Mystery, Danger

In this enchanting book by Sarah Prineas, you meet Fer, a teenage girl who lives with her grandmother. Fer tries to live a normal life, but getting too close to town, riding the bus away from the edge of the wood where she lives, twists her stomach into knots. She always feels more at home wandering outside in the forest than she does inside with her peers. When she meets Rook, everything changes. Rook is a puck, a human with the natural ability to shape shift using small mementos called 'shiftier-bones', and he came through a Way, a portal to another place filled with magic, after being run out of his home by the Mor. Following him back through, Fer meets the Mor, the leader of the kingdom that they stand in, the Summerlands. As Fer begins to embrace this strange new land, she will uncover many dark secrets about the land itself, the mysterious Mor, and even her own late parents. Will she be able to save the Summerlands and stop the wicked Mor, or will she suffer the fate her mother did if she fails?
I really loved the way Prineas crafts her novels in general, and I have already written about another series of hers, The Magic Thief, but this book series was truly outstanding by my standards. Rich and detailed while still being shorter than 400 pages per book in this series, Winterling is a modern take on the old views of magic and of leadership that will someday become a classic. I recommend it to anyone looking for an old-fashioned adventure with some new twists and turns.  

Twinmaker

* * * */ Four Stars

Genre: Action, Adventure, Futuristic, Fiction, Intellect, Danger, Mystery, Suspense, Humor, Romance (but very little)

Welcome to the future! Everything has changed from the 21st century Earth that we know; fabbers create endless supplies of food, people all over the globe communicate via 'the air', and almost everyone teleports around the world using the d-mat system. Clair is a normal girl living with her parents. She goes to a good school and has an amazing best friend called Libby. Everything changes in a heartbeat, however, when her friend Libby trys Improvement (using a special code when you teleport to change any physical imperfection). Libby is now being brainwashed. Her code is changing. And her body will soon be dying. Clair looks for answers with the help of an Abstainer, a person who doesn't use d-mat or fabbers to live, who goes to her school named Jesse. After choosing to collaborate with her, instantly things go wrong. His dad gets killed, the house blows up, and viscous dupes will stop at nothing to make sure that she and Jesse don't share what they know with the world. Now Clair and her new friends are on a race to save Libby and stop the dupes before time runs out in a crazy sprint across the globe. Can they escape the technology that hunts them in a world filled with d-mat?
I really enjoyed the imagination and technological elements in this novel that mesh together to create a groundbreaking piece. I think that Sean Williams went above and beyond to ensure that this book and its characters would seem as real and as thrilling as possible. I recommend this book to anyone with a love of sci-fi and who wants a taste of adventure in what they read.