Nearly

Stan looked at the gauge in the dash and saw that he was nearly out of gas as he sped down the interstate. He was mentally kicking himself for not filling the tank the day before when he had the chance. Now there was no time.

His sister, Sara, had gone into labor. She was already on her way to the hospital, being driven by a close friend whose name Stan couldn't recall. He needed to get there. He needed to be there for her. He had made a promise.

Will was Sara's husband, and he was a marine. He had been deployed to Iraq just three months earlier. Stan promised his brother-in-law that when the big day came for his child to be born, that he would be there to hold Sara's hand since Will wouldn't be able to.

And now Stan was running late. He got the call from Sara when her water broke. She told him not to rush. She said that Linda would get her to the hospital and that she would be fine. But Stan didn't know about these things. Sure he understood that TV wasn't exactly reality, but he remembered that when Mrs. Belding's water broke, Zack had to deliver her baby on the elevator during an earthquake. And that was in a matter of minutes. So he drove as quickly as he could, praying that he wouldn't get stopped by a state trooper.

The low fuel light taunted him silently from the dashboard. He wasn't far away now. He just needed to go a little further. And then his engine started to make some odd noises. He cursed into the steering wheel as his motor choked. As his car died, he drifted to the shoulder and turned on his hazard lights.

He got out of his car and slammed the door in anger. Stan pulled out his cell phone and dialed his sister's number, ready to let her down. In the soft glow of twilight, he looked ahead of his stalled car. Half a mile ahead was his exit. He was nearly there after all.