good samaritans

while riding through the back roads of auburn yesterday and trying to locate an old friend, i got that nagging feeling as i came around a corner and felt the bike begin to hiccup. petrol. or lack thereof. i turned the petcock valves to the reserve position which hasn't added a lot of distance lately and pressed on. the hiccuping turned to a violent cough as i rounded the next corner. as the road began to rise it was all over as the engine quit and i rolled to a stop.
i really don't like running out of gas but it seems as if my sub-conscious mind is asleep at the wheel lately as i have done this now several times without becoming the wiser. and i'm beginning to think it's purposeful. it never happens on a city block where i can just coast into a service station. nope. it's got to be on some rural road where serious walking is involved and usually some local farmer has to be bartered with for tractor gas. and maybe that's it. maybe my sub-conscious mind is hungry for some adventure and sets out to sabotage me.
i pushed the bike over the next rise and hopped on to coast down a hill. that wasn't too bad. the next hill looked pretty killer though. maybe it was the last one before i got back into town. i seemed to remember i wasn't that far from town as i passed someone's property with giant sheet metal sculptures of rearing horses. i was wheezing and cursing that sub-consciousness as my legs ached to pump the bike further. finally i found a flat and shady spot where i could park and take a quick breather. a little yellow toyota corolla passed me by and then turned around and stopped. a guy with long hair and mad dog sunglasses hopped out and came walking toward me. thank God for the hippies.
"there's still some decent people out there brother" he said as he got closer. he asked what was wrong and offered to give me a lift into town and back. he said he even had a gas can. brilliant! i walked back and climbed over the deep layer of crappola in their back seat as we sped off toward downtown auburn. he introduced me to his old lady "tina" and told me his name was "michael" they were headed over to the vet to pick up their dogs when they stopped to pick me up, but said it was no problem, they were happy to help. we stopped at the shell and i offered to fill up their car as a thank you before filling the 2 gallon gas can. we passed a city building with roses in front and tina commented on their beauty to which michael answered "you want me to pick you some love?"
they were tired but there was still light in their eyes as we talked and joked. and i couldn't help feeling like it was all supposed to work out this way to begin with. we parked behind the bike. i filled 'er up as we made a few more passing comments. turns out michael'd had a sweet '61 triumph with a tank rack back in the day, but someone had stolen it one night and that was all she wrote. i put the key in and fired the bike up. whew. i was beginning to hope that was all that was wrong. and as i sped away and tooted the meager horn of my bike michael yelled out to me "i'm glad i met you" me too brother, and thanks much to you and your lady.