I had seen no cars, and no people. Open fields and patches of woods surrounded me all the way to the horizon. The sky was cloudless.
As I walked, I noticed that a car was parked ahead of me, on the right. I was walking on the right side of the road. As I approached it I could see that all of the windows were down. When I reached the car I could not help but notice that an attractive woman was sitting in the back seat. Even more curiously, she was naked. She looked at me, and smiled faintly, as though she knew me.
I quickly looked around to see if I was being set up for a crime. There was still no one all the way to the horizon. There was only the woman and me. She aroused in me both desire and fear of the inexplicable. Part of me wanted to keep walking. Then I considered that if she was dangerous, it would be dangerous of me to turn my back to her.
"Excuse me," I began awkwardly. "My name is Ted. May I talk to you?"
She nodded.
"I am a decent man," I told her. "Someone else may not be. I don’t want anyone to harm you. May I get into the car with you?"
She nodded. When I joined her in the back seat she moved away from me, so I backed up too.
"This feels very strange. You’re the first person I have talked to for a long time. It has been much longer since I have seen a woman as beautiful as you are."
She smiled.
"Your body is slender and in perfect proportion. Your skin is flawless. You look as though one of your parents was Oriental."
She kept looking at me with her large, dark, and slightly Oriental eyes, saying nothing.
"Your long black hair beautifully frames your face, and flows down your softly rounded shoulders," I continued.
"Your eyes are large, dark, and project intelligence, and a wisdom that is rare for one so young. Your nose is in perfect proportion to the rest of your face, and your lips were made to hold a kiss. Your breasts are round and firm, and your perky nipples indicate that you are aroused too. Your stomach is flat, and your waist is small. Although completely naked, you are sitting modestly, with your legs together. There is only a small tuft of black pubic hair where your thighs meet. Your thighs are slender and athletic. There are women in this world who are as beautiful as you, but I cannot think of anyone who surpasses you, not even in Hollywood."
She said nothing. I continued, "You are silent, but you appreciate my praise. It is not flattery, but a simple description. I cannot imagine anyone disagreeing. You do not seem to be afraid of me. I am glad. Do you know who I am?" I asked nervously.
She nodded.
"My name is Ted," I told her again. "I don’t remember you, but it seems that I have always known you. You look young, but you appear to have always existed."
"My name is Ted," I told her the third time. "Will you tell me what your name is?"
She shook her head.
"Have you been waiting here very long?"
She nodded.
"Has anyone else come by?"
She shook her head.
"Who have you been waiting for?"
No answer.
"Have you been waiting for me?"
She smiled and nodded.
"I have been waiting for you all of my life. I do not know why you are here. I do not even know why I am walking down this lonely road. It does not seem lonely anymore, but you appear to be a beautiful apparition. You are too wonderful to be true."
Realizing that I was making myself vulnerable, I quickly looked around again to see if I was being surrounded. When I looked behind me I had the insane fear that she would turn into a large cat and attack me. There was no one. The only sound besides the sound of my voice was the sound of the wind.
I noticed that there was no key in the car’s ignition. "Do you have the key to this car?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Do you want to drive somewhere?"
No, she did not.
As I talked to the naked woman, the desire I initially felt for her slowly segued into a feeling of drowsiness I could not explain. "Please," I almost pleaded. "It has been much too long since I have had a conversation with anyone. You must talk to me."
She looked sad.
"I have no friends, only acquaintances. I want to be your friend."
She smiled.
"May I shake your hand?"
No, I could not.
"Look," I began. "My whole life has been like walking down this road. I don’t know where I’m going. I only know where I’ve been, and that I don’t want to go back there. I know where I want to go, but I don’t know how to get there. I don’t even remember getting up this morning. Do you understand?"
Looking at me with an expression of compassion, and melancholy, the beautiful, mysterious, and naked woman smiled sadly, and nodded.
"Do you know where we are?"
She nodded.
"Can you tell me?"
No, she could not.
I was getting sleepier. "Please tell me," I pleaded. "Who are you?"
She did not answer. Sleep flowed over me like fog covering a building. I was afraid I would never wake up.
When I did wake up, I was lying next to the road in a patch of soft grass. The car and the beautiful, naked, mysterious woman had left. I quickly felt for my wallet, keys, and the pepper foam I always carry with me for self defense. They were there. I wondered if I had dreamed about the woman. Perhaps I got sleepy while walking along the road to nowhere, and took a nap. Then I felt a piece of paper in my shirt pocket.
When I opened it I saw beautifully artistic hand writing I did not recognize, and read, "Thank you for talking to me."