A Good Deed

It was a cold and icy winter day. There was no snow on the ground, but the temperatures plummeted below zero for the prior week. A perfect recipe for ground ice. 

17-year-old Greg woke early at 7am on Saturday morning and groggily bundled up to go to swimming practice. 

Mr. Herbert, Greg’s swim coach, insisted they practice every single day after school and two hours first thing Saturday morning to maintain their level of competition. The previous year, the team missed winning the state championship by only a few points and Mr. Herbert vowed that would never happen again. 

The light was just coming up over the horizon, but it was still very dark out, which made it difficult to see any black ice on the road. 

When he turned onto a road, Greg hit a small patch of ice and began to skid. His first instinct was turn the wheel, but he  remembered his father told him not to fight ice, so he loosened his grip on the wheel and let the car skid a bit. In a minute, he took a deep sigh of relief, the car was back on track. He got through it. 

Although, up ahead he saw someone else was not so fortunate. In the deep gully next to the road the car in front of him careened off leaving the car teetering in the ditch. 

Greg was sympathetic to the driver and as a good Eagle Scout wanted to offer his assistance. He had a rope in the back of his Jeep SUV and a trailer hitch, so he thought he could pull the car out of the gully. 

He gently depressed the brake to stop and hit a large piece of black ice. His car suddenly spun around and around like a top without control. A wild ride he didn’t care to be on. 

Remembering what his father told him again he loosened up a little on the wheel and took his foot off the brake, hoping the car would once again recover. But this time, Greg wouldn’t get that lucky. The spin thrust the car into the ditch and flipped it over. 

Shaken and somewhat terrified, Greg took a deep breath and took account of himself. 

He didn’t see any blood or feel any broken bones and the airbags didn’t deploy. He was physically fine, but mentally apprehensive from the accident. But the biggest problem… he was upside down. 

Since the car seemed level, he figured the best course was to get out of the car. Greg tried to unbuckle his seatbelt, but the force of gravity locked the seatbelt in a tight position and he couldn’t remove it. No matter how many times he pulled and clicked, it wouldn’t come undone. He was left hanging there. 

His cell phone was in his bag on the passenger seat, but when he reached for it, he found it gone, probably flung somewhere in the other parts of the car. He was stranded with nowhere to go. It seemed like his good deed would not go unpunished.

But then, there was a rap on the window. Greg looked up and saw an older gentleman staring at him. 

“Are you Ok?” He said. 

Greg nodded. 

“I called a tow truck a few minutes ago to pull my car out of the ditch. Maybe they can help you too. Did you want to use my phone to call anyone?”

Greg nodded in appreciation, but when he tried to lower the window, it was stuck. The flipped vehicle probably bent the door frame, pinning the window. So he took off his gloves and wrote his home phone number in the foggy mist on the window. 

The man put the number in his phone and called. 

“Hello?” Said Greg‘s half asleep mother.

“Hi my name is Martin. I’m on Bruce Road and your son is here. There’s been an accident. He’s fine but looks a bit scared. He hit some black ice and he’s upside diwnin the ditch. I called for a tow truck.”

Greg’s mother Shelia gasped. “Oh my goodness, I’ll be right there.”

Still in her pajamas, Sheila ran downstairs put on her coat, boots, gloves, and a hat, racing out the door as fast as she could. 

A few minutes later, she arrived on the scene to find a fire truck and tow truck. The firefighters were using a crowbar to open the door and release Greg.

Sheila ran up to the car yelling Greg‘s name. 

After the firefighters cut his seatbelt, Greg was finally free. As soon as he saw her, Greg burst into tears and ran to her. 

“Mom, mom!”

He held onto her crying, his body shaking from fear and fright. 

She comforted her son and a few minutes later they both stood there, looking at the car. 

“I’m really sorry mom. I tried to stop to help this man whose car went off the road and then I hit the black ice,” Greg explained, wiping away his tears. 

She lovingly gazed at her son and kissed him on the forehead. 

“Don’t worry about the car. I’m just glad you’re OK. It’s really kind of a miracle. You know they say no good deed goes unpunished. Maybe next time, just call for help. But I’m proud of you for thinking of others in need.”

As they hugged, the tow truck driver approached them, shaking his head. 

“The car is probably totaled ma’am. I can get it out of the ditch and flip it over, but where would you like me to tow it?”

“We live about a mile away. I guess tow it back to our house,” Shelia said. 

Then the older man extended his hand to Greg. 

“Young man, I hear you got into this pickle because you tried to help me.”

He turned to Shelia. 

“You’ve got a good one here.” Then he walked back to his car being pulled from the ditch. 

Shelia hugged Greg again. 

“There. Maybe that is reward for your good deed after all. You’re safe. That’s enough.”

(C) Suzanne Rudd Hamilton 2025

Note: This was a prompt from my writing group to write about sayings. And, yes, this is a true story of one of my children.