angels
Me, my mum, and my sister, in a car, in the middle of nowhere, in winter. We're driving along the A39 somewhere in NE cornwall, running out of petrol. It's a sunday, and nowhere is open, and no-one is around. It's freezing cold and it's about 10pm. Mid-1980s

The fuel light is on. We won't make the next town. We're starting to seriously worry about what to do.

We pull over, while my mum thinks about our options, which at the moment are 'sleep in the car and try not to freeze to death.'

The first car we've seen for ages pulls up behind us. An elderly couple get out and ask if we're ok. We explain.

Don't worry. Old man chap goes back to his car and comes back with a jerry can full of fuel. I always carry this for emergencies. He fills us up. He refuses any payment. He and his wife drive off.

A few moments later, we follow. Absolutely no sign of the old couple or their car, and we should at least still be able to see their rear lights. Very odd.

At the time me and my family were quite religious and we were half-convinced for a long time that we'd been rescued by angels. It was just such a lucky, generous, thing, and then the mysterious disappeance...

I don't believe in god or religion any more, but it's still hard to shake the suspicion that they were some kind of friendly apparition.
(inflateable, Wed 26 Nov 2014, 19:08, 3 replies)

Nice story
Something I've noticed in the north (Havent spent much time in the west) is that people from remote/rural areas won't leave other motorists out in the wilderness if they're in trouble.

I figure they're over-familiar with the real risk of death from exposure, as it happens quite often. I've had a chance to offer similar help in the past, haven't yet been left relying on it from others but hope I've stored up enough good karma just in case
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Wed 26 Nov 2014, 20:19, closed)

I am from the rural north and I note that people are cunts.

( d.r._and_quinch when will you be famous?, Wed 26 Nov 2014, 22:17, closed)

I think the more pragmatic answer was that they
had driven off the road into a ditch, out of sight of the road as you passed, and spent their last terrified hours trapped upside down in a car, slowly perishing from hypothermia.

Either that or they went a different way to you.
(username failed moderation, Thu 27 Nov 2014, 9:32, closed)