An 18-wheeler rumbled by Ordinary Man. The gust of cold wind it created rippled through his thin, lime green costume and royal blue mask with lop-sided eye spots. It was only twenty degrees where Ordinary Man was standing, and his thermal underwear no longer kept out the cold. He began to shiver uncontrollably as he felt his fingertips, toes, and nose go numb. He set down the sign he was holding and crossed his arms. Another group of five cars whizzed by, releasing another gust of cold wind. Ordinary Man's teeth chattered.

"I'm never going to get a ride," he mumbled through frozen lips. He stamped the ground and rubbed his arms. He wasn't feeling any warmer, and the next town was at least ten miles away on the other side of the pass. The sun began to set behind the mountains. It was almost dark, and the temperature dropped even lower. Ordinary Man was desperate. He was going to get a ride, whether it killed him or not. He picked up his sign, which read "Chernobyl" and stepped right into the center of the lane. Holding it at his chest, he made sure it was visible.

Off in the distance, he saw the headlights of a car. With a smile and a prayer, he stepped into its way.

HONK! The car swerved into the median and kicked up dead grass and clumps of dirt as the driver slammed on his brakes. He rolled down his window.

"Who do you think you are?!" he hollered. "Get outta the road!" With a string of colorful language aimed at Ordinary Man, he rolled up his window up and sped off, kicking up more clumps of dead grass and dirt. That minor incident didn't bother Ordinary Man one bit, though, because off in the distance, he saw the headlights of another 18-wheeler approaching. Holding up his sign up hopefully, he stood in its way while it blared its air horn. The noise was deafening, but Ordinary Man stood fast. It was too cold to stay out here all night. The truck began to slow down, but not all the way. It blared its horn again. Ordinary Man cringed, getting ready to become a road pizza, but he stayed put nonetheless. The truck driver, whose name was Ed, slowed the truck down some more. Ordinary Man didn't budge. He was going to get a ride, even if it killed him. The truck finally came to a halt right before his nose, and Ed, the driver, got out.

"Get out of the road," he hollered, "before I go over there and drag you by your pants!"

"I need a ride," Ordinary Man said calmly.

"Well, this is no way to get it," said Ed. "Now get outta my way before I run you over flatter than a pancake."

"Not until you give me a ride," said Ordinary Man keeping his reserve and cool.

"Suit yourself," said Ed hopping back into the cab. He shifted the truck into gear and took a look at the strange person standing stubbornly in front of his truck. He was a complete nut case. His lime green costume looked like something a third grader would put together, and the person wearing it was shivering cold. In the cab, everything was nice and warm, but out there, in that freezing, frigid mountain air, there was a fellow human being in need of help. A small glimmer of compassion touched the huge man's soul. His father had always taught him to help those in need, no matter how little or how much help they needed. Ed couldn't leave that poor nut case out in the cold to freeze to death. With a grumble and a frown, he reached over and flung the passenger side door open.

"Get in here," he growled. Ordinary Man looked up at the driver and smiled behind his mask.

"Thanks," he said discarding his sign. As he climbed in, his thirty pound tool belt caught on something. He pulled and tugged on it. It wouldn't come loose.

"Come on," Ed grumbled, grabbing hold of the tool belt and yanking it loose. "I haven't got all night." The driver stomped the gas pedal and accelerated.

"I want to make one thing perfectly clear to you," said Ed. "The only reason I'm giving you a ride and not running you over is because it's cold out there, so don't give me any guff."

Ordinary man just nodded. It appeared to him that this driver was not in a friendly mood. The truck trudged up the pass for a while. The only sounds in the cab were the rumbling and whining of the engine as it struggled to haul its load of propane up the steep mountain pass and the squawking of the CB radio.

At the top of the pass, they stopped at a truck stop situated on a steep hill.

"You want to come in with me," Ed asked. He seemed to be in a better mood than he was before.

"I guess so," said Ordinary Man. He unbuckled his seat belt and struggled to open the passenger side door.

"Come on," Ed said for the second time that night. "I haven't got all night."

"OK, OK. I'm coming." Ordinary Man slid across the seat to the driver's side and hopped out. He reached back in and pulled his tool belt, but it got caught on the gear shift. Ordinary Man tugged. The driver threw his arms up in the air and walked into the truck stop cursing his ill luck Ordinary Man tugged with all his might on the tool belt. It came loose, but in the process, it released the parking brake and hit the gear shift hard enough to knock it into neutral. As Ordinary Man walked to the end of the truck, he flung his heavy tool belt over his shoulder, giving the trailer a good whack in the process. It let out a hollow gong.

"Hey! Don't pound on that trailer!" Ed yelled from the truck stop. "I've got propane in that thing!"

"Sorry," said Ordinary Man.

"Sorry won't cut it when you blow us all to kingdom come!" Ed turned and threw open the truck stop door and stepped into the noisy room, leaving Ordinary Man to stumble under the heavy tool belt he was carrying. "What a lunatic," he said to himself as he looked out the window. Ordinary Man was a pitiful sight. He was the only man Ed knew that struggled under thirty pounds of weight and thought he was some type of superhero.

"Sorry it took so long," Ordinary Man said as he entered the noisy, smoke filled truck stop. The smell of grilled hamburgers, ketchup, and fish met his nostrils along with the aroma of coffee and cigarette smoke. Off in a far corner, two burly guys in flannels and John Deere caps were playing Pong on an ancient arcade game console while another group of guys was seated at the bar smoking, sipping steaming mugs of coffee, and discussing the weather and road conditions.

"I hear snow's acoming," one said.

"Yeah," said another. "They're expecting up to fifteen inches down in Denver and at least twenty-four up here in the high country."

As Ordinary Man eavesdropped a little, Ed slid into a booth by a window. Ordinary Man soon followed after he found out more about the weather. He sure hoped that Ed would be willing to drive him all the way down to Denver. The last thing he wanted to be was buried in a ten foot high snow drift. A waitress came by and wrote down their order for coffee and gave Ordinary Man a really weird look, like he was some kind of lunatic or something.

The two sat in silence for a while waiting for their coffee.

"Do you usually haul propane?" Ordinary Man asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

"No," Ed answered. "I usually haul whatever needs hauling. I own my own truck now. Just paid the last payment yesterday." A glimmer of pride shone in his eye, and for the first time that night, a smile crossed his lips.

"Congratulations," said Ordinary Man. He glanced out the window, and then suddenly noticed that something was amiss. Through the glare that is usually seen when looking out a window during the night, Ordinary Man noticed that the truck wasn't where he remembered it being. "By the way, where did we park?"

"Over there," said Ed, "by that yellow King Soopers one- HEY! Where'd it go?!" He jumped out of his seat. "Oh, you stupid moron!" He ran started cussing Ordinary Man out as he ran to the door and out into the parking lot. Ordinary Man ran after him.

"Hey! You seen my truck?" Ed frantically asked someone coming in.

"What's it look like?" the guy asked.

"It's white and blue and has a trailer full of propane," Ed answered.

"Uh-oh. I think we have a problem." The two ran in the direction of the highway and Ordinary Man followed close behind. There, rolling slowly downhill into the heavy traffic was Ed's truck.

"Stop that truck," he hollered, running after it. Ordinary Man, a class 4A track star in high school, passed Ed and caught up with the truck. He grabbed hold of the rear of the trailer and tried to stop it in Superman like fashion while the soles of his shoes were dragged along the pavement. Instead of stopping like he intended it to do, the truck kept going, and Ordinary Man was dragged behind until he lost his balance and let go. Undaunted by this minor setback, our hero got back up onto his feet and this time leaped onto the back of the trailer just as it entered the highway.

The truck was moving at only six miles per hour, but it was quickly gaining speed as it descended downhill. Angry drivers blared their horns at the truck and swerved to dodge it. Ordinary Man hung precariously onto the back, praying frantically that the truck would soon stop, but to no avail. The truck continued on its dangerous path. It only went faster until it was suddenly able to keep up with traffic.

"I've got to get up there," Ordinary Man thought to himself. With a heave, he jumped up and grabbed hold of the ladder that ran up the back of the truck. He struggled up and onto the roof of the trailer. It was icy cold and slick, and the wind whipped Ordinary Mans mask, causing him to be temporarily blinded by the cloth that was blown into his eyes. He tore off the inconvenient mask and put it in his pocket. He couldn't afford to be blinded in such a dangerous situation.

He slowly crawled across the roof as he watched cars swerve to dodge the truck. The truck swerved suddenly to the left and was riding right over the center lane. Two cars driving side by side swerved as the truck overtook them. One went into the median. The other went into the ditch on the right side.

"Sorry," Ordinary Man called as the drivers got out of their cars and shook their fists at the truck.

Suddenly, up ahead, Ordinary Man saw a bright yellow sign with a flashing yellow light. It read, "Truckers: 5% Grade Ahead. Shift to First Gear."

"Uh-oh." Almost immediately, the truck began to gain more speed, and up ahead was curve. If the truck didn't take the curve, it would become a permanent fixture of the cliff. Ordinary Man's adrenaline started pumping. he crawled as fast as he could to the front.

SCREEEEE! Metal on metal. The truck slid along the guardrail guarding the curve, veering it in the right direction. It also shaved off quite a bit of speed. Ordinary Man breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long. The truck began to pick up speed again. It careened down the mountain, endangering the lives of all those near it.

KABUMP! The truck hit a series of bumps, causing Ordinary Man to fall flat and cling onto the roof for dear life. It also began to snow. It was small flakes at first, but pretty soon, bigger and bigger wet flakes began to fall, blinding Ordinary Man and dropping visibility to almost zero for all the other drivers on the highway. If Ordinary Man got out of this in one piece, he would never, ever hitch a ride on an 18-wheeler again.

The truck hit another series of large bumps, veering the truck again, but this time, they veered the truck away from the median and back into its proper lane. It was a miracle the truck stayed in the lane at all.

Ordinary Man attempted to stand up, but the snow and wind were just too strong. He was back on his hands and knees again, crawling forward against the howling wind and wet snowflakes. His ears began to go numb, and he couldn't feel his toes anymore. Finally, Ordinary Man reached the end of the trailer and saw himself looking down at the gap between the trailer and the cab. His fears of heights almost stopped him, but this was no time to fear. With the adrenaline pumping, Ordinary Man took a leap and landed on the roof of the cab. He hadn't caught his balance quickly enough and he found himself falling backwards. With a big lunge, he grabbed hold of the exhaust pipe to his left. Fortunately for him, it was nice and cool. The wind and the snow did have some positive effects.

This was going differently than Ordinary Man had planned, but that didn't matter. He instinctively reached for his tool belt, but it wasn't there. He had mistakenly left it at the truck stop. Darn. Now he was really in trouble. He had to think fast as he hung with all his might onto the exhaust pipe.

Suddenly, an idea hit him. He shimmied down to the level of the door handle and reached over. He grabbed hold of it and pulled. The driver's side door opened easily. Holding onto the side of the truck, Ordinary Man slowly advanced, hanging precariously onto the side of the truck.

HONK! An angry driver blared its horn as it passed the truck. Ordinary Man suddenly lost his balance. He grabbed the seat belt and hung onto it until he regained his balance. Then he pulled himself into the cab.

"I hope this works," Ordinary Man said to himself as he stomped the brakes and grabbed hold of the steering wheel. He steered the truck to the right, not bothering to watch the traffic. The sound of blaring horns met his ears.

Speed was quickly shaving off, but not fast enough. The truck's momentum kept it going. The smell of hot brakes filled the cab. Outside, smoke blew out from the axles. The truck finally came to a stop. Cars, trucks, and vans whizzed by with snow flying off their roofs and bumpers. The smell of burnt brakes became too much for Ordinary Man to handle. He put the truck into park and stepped outside into the snow and wind. The road was covered with brown slush, and as cars passed by, jets of slush flew from their wheels.

Suddenly, off in the distance, a pair of swerving, speeding headlights caught Ordinary Man's eye. The car, a bright red Ferrari, sped in his direction, and then suddenly swerved to the side of the road and stopped just a couple of yards from where Ordinary Man was standing, letting loose a spray of ice and slush. Ed got out of the passenger side, and Ordinary Man knew he was in trouble.

"You!" he yelled. "If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd skin you and use your hide for floor mats!" He shoved Ordinary Man to the side and inspected his truck. "I can't believe that stupid moron did something so stupid," he muttered to himself. "Look. He even fried my brakes."

"Sorry," said Ordinary Man.

"One of these days." Ed shook his finger in Ordinary Man's face and then slid it across his throat. "If I ever catch you within 100 miles of my truck, I will run you over flatter than a FRENCH CREPE!" He hopped into the cab and started the engine, cussing Ordinary Man out the whole way. With a rumble and the sound of tires on slush, the truck pulled away, leaving Ordinary Man and the Ferrari and its driver standing there in the heavy snow and freezing cold. Ordinary Man looked hopefully at the driver of the Ferrari.

"Oh no you don't," the driver said. "I'm not letting you near my car." He got back in the Ferrari and sped off, showering Ordinary Man with icy cold slush and water.