Sunday 11th January
The rain fell heavily, and the night was coal black. I left my friend's house to walk home; it was only a half-hour walk, or 20 minutes if I went through the woods next to the park. I usually avoided this route when it was dark, fearing I might lose my footing on the unlit trail or encounter an unsavoury character, but it was only 8:30 pm, and the mid-January rain was already lowering my body temperature after a few minutes, so I decided to take the shortest route.
Raindrops were bouncing off the pavement as I turned to walk briskly up the wooded path. I turned on my phone's torch, carefully shielding it from the rain. I could feel the mud squelching and sliding beneath my boots as I moved further up towards the steep part of the path.
Suddenly, as I was almost at the top of the trail leading into the housing estate, I thought I heard someone shout, but it was hard to tell exactly what the sound was amid the squall of wind and rain. Then again. This time it sounded nearer.
I raised my phone to shine the torch farther up the path and saw the outline of someone sitting in the mud, looking up at the light.
“Hello, I fell!” They greeted me with a shout.
“Are you okay there?” I asked as I approached.
“I hurt my ankle and smashed my phone...I...I need to get home,” they replied.
I stopped next to them and extended my torch-free hand to lift them to their feet. “Can you walk?” I asked as I did so.
“I think so, but I tried to get up and I couldn't,” she said as she took my hand. I pulled her to her feet; I could see how wet and muddy her clothes were, and she was shivering. Strands of her ginger hair were stuck to her face and dripping with rain, with water clearly soaking through the thin hood on her jacket.
“You're shivering terribly. How long have you been here?” I asked as I held her hand to steady her on her feet.
“About half an hour, I think...my phone is smashed, and I think it got wet and won't turn on. I'm really cold,” she said with a tremble in her voice.
“I think I have something in here...ah, there,” I said, pulling a chocolate bar out of my coat pocket. “Take my coat and eat this for some energy. Do you know any of your family's numbers so you can ring them on my phone? How far away do you live?” I asked as I took off my coat and wrapped it around her.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a bite of the chocolate bar, still shivering. “I don't know any numbers off the top of my head, I live a 15 minute walk from here...I was visiting my grandma on the other side of the estate and came back behind the houses and just slipped in the mud...stupid,” she said. She seemed anxious.
“Do you want me to help you get home? I live about 10 minutes from here on the estate myself,” I asked.
“Yeah, please, thank you,” she said, still seeming anxious, though shivering less after finishing the chocolate.
“It's okay, don't worry. Can you move your foot, okay? It isn't broken? We can call you an ambulance,” I asked before we started walking.
She gingerly moved her foot, wincing in pain. “I don't think it's broken, but it's really sore…I can't stay out here in the cold waiting for an ambulance, I just need to get home,” she said, her breath quickening.
“Okay, hang on to me and we'll go slowly, don't worry,” I said, extending my arm for her to hold.
“Thank you,” she said, but hesitated to take my arm.
“You seem a bit anxious. Are you feeling okay?” I asked.
“I think so...sorry, it's just I find it a bit hard to trust people, and I get anxious with new people,” she reeled off.
“It's okay, I get it. You can trust me, I'll help you get home,” I said, giving her a friendly smile.
She still looked unsure, but lacking any other way of getting home, she took my arm, and we slowly started moving toward the gate from the wooded path onto the estate.
“What's your name?” she asked, still wincing through pain.
“Arthur, what's yours?” I replied.
“I'm Holly,” she said.
“Well, nice to meet you, Holly, though not under the best circumstances,” I said with a laugh, trying to make her feel at ease as we made our way through the gate and into the estate.
Holly seemed to relax a little once we got to the well-lit streets of the estate, and we slowly plodded along with the rain lashing us.
“Turn left here,” she said after a few minutes. She was breathing heavily.
“Do you need a minute? How's the pain?” I asked.
“It's really hurting, but I think it's just a sprain. I can at least walk on it if I’m careful,” she replied. We carried on until we reached Holly's street. “We're here...please could you help me up the steps?” She panted as we arrived at a mid-sized detached house. She seemed to feel a lot more at ease having reached home.
“Of course, no problem,” I replied. She held tight to my arm as we ascended the few steps to her front door, breathing a sigh of relief as she rang the doorbell.
A woman quickly answered the door. “Oh, Holly! You're soaked through! And who's this?” she said rather frantically.
“Hi Mum, I fell on the woods path on the way back from seeing Grandma. I couldn't ring for help, my phone smashed in my pocket when I fell. This is Arthur, he was walking up and helped me get home,” Holly replied.
“Hi there, Arthur, thank you,” she said, before turning back to Holly. “Come in, look at you, you're shivering terribly, are you hurt?”
Holly held onto her mother and walked into the house. I was just about to say goodbye and turn away, content with my good deed for the day, but as I half did so, Holly's mother said, “You too, Arthur. Come and have a cup of tea and dry off, it's the least we can do.”
“Thank you,” I replied. A cup of tea and a towel would be a welcome relief before the walk home, I thought to myself. It was only a 10-minute walk, but I was soaked through and shivering too at this point.
Holly's father came out of the living room, said a quick hello and thank you to me, then sat Holly on the stairs to help her with her boots and to inspect her ankle. Holly's mother soon returned with a big towel and then disappeared again to make the cups of tea.
“Hmm, looks quite swollen,” said Holly's father, having helped her remove her boot and sock, exposing her red and already swollen foot.
“It's really sore, I can walk on it though...oh...sorry for the mud on the stairs,” said Holly, looking down at her muddy jeans.
Holly's mother soon returned with cups of tea and invited me to take my boots off and step into the kitchen. “Don't worry about the mud, Hol, the laminate is easily cleaned,” she said to Holly as she walked through to the kitchen with me.
“Thanks again, Arthur. I'm Sheila, by the way. Do you live locally? I can give you a lift home, it's the least I can do,” said Holly's mother.
“Oh, thanks, Sheila, but I only live 10 minutes away, and I'm already soaked now as it is. I'll be fine to walk back. You need to help Holly, and I wouldn't want to put you out,” I replied with a smile, enjoying each sip of the tea.
“Only if you're sure, let me know if you change your mind,” Sheila said, smiling, and then turned to go and check on Holly. I followed, and Holly's dad was now sitting on the stairs with her.
“Thanks for helping her home, Arthur. I'm Brian, nice to meet you,” said Holly's father.
“Nice to meet you, Brian. It was no problem,” I said with a smile.
Sheila and Brian discussed with Holly whether they should take her to the hospital to have her ankle X-rayed, and she agreed it was a good idea as a precaution.
Having finished my cup of tea and warmed up slightly, I decided it was time to go. “Well, I'd better carry on and get home myself; I need to get out of these wet clothes,” I smiled.
“Me too, need to be comfortable to sit in the hospital for hours...without a phone,” said Holly, still sitting on the stairs. She said it jokingly, but I could tell she was frustrated. “Thank you again, Arthur,” she smiled.
“Ah, that's okay, don't worry, I hope you aren't up at the hospital too long, and it isn't broken,” I replied.
Shelia thanked me again, then took my empty mug to the kitchen as she called out, “I'll go and get you some clothes from upstairs, Hol!”
Having said goodbye to everyone and put my boots back on, I turned, opened the door and walked back out into the rain and cold. I felt good about helping a stranger in need, and thinking about it took my mind off the bitter weather as I walked. Having arrived home and warmed myself up with some dry clothes, I soon fell asleep.
