Night Traveler: The Waving Person

 The world at night is very different from the scene we normally see during daytime.

I'd say that I'm one of those lucky enough to experience night life in abundance.

I'd always joke about being a vampire. I am pretty fair. My sunburns heal really fast, too. Ever since I moved to Taiwan, I never really remember having dark skin since the sun here is a little friendlier. Another reason for this is because I really love going out at night. I've been working night shifts for a total of eight years since 2016.

If you ever traveled at night, you'd notice a lot of things and people. For instance, when I was still in Malaysia, whenever I finished my shift early, I'd drive home immediately. Around three in the morning, I'd be driving through the main road leading to my residential area. During that hour, there's hardly any other vehicles on the road, let alone people. I noticed that sometimes there'd be a person standing at the side of the road, extending their hand and waving at me.

It's always the same person. Notice that I use the pronoun 'they'. I didn't know if it was a he or a she. They have the image of the Laughing Buddha and always wear grey clothes.

Whenever they waved at me, it scared me and I was in a great dilemma. Were they human? Should I stop the car? It's dangerous at night. Maybe they needed help. What if it put me in danger instead? There were so many questions.

While I was contemplating, I'd drive past them. I'd still be thinking after I drove far away. Sometimes I considered making a u-turn to stop the car and ask them what they needed. I never did. It has been a knot in my heart since it happened for the first time. However, I would still see them some days after that. I've mentioned it in conversations and found out that there were people who would see them too. It seemed like they did it really often. "Don't mind them," they said, "they have been there for a long time, stopping cars. Of  course nobody dared to stop at night."

I started to think. It's true that nobody would dare to stop the car. What if someone did? What if I did? I'd be that somebody instead of that nobody. Only then would I find out what the fuss was about. What if it's someone who no longer exists? It's said that those who left didn't know that they've already left. They'd keep repeating the same action at the same place for years.

I didn't manage to find out. Soon after, I started working the later shift. I finish my shift at around four in the morning. After my shift, I'd clean up and send my colleagues back to the hostel. By the time I drove past that route, it would've been around five in the morning. I've not seen the person after that. Everything remained a mystery.

There are many more mysteries and fun after the city goes to sleep. I figure I'll start a series to talk about the interesting things I experience at night. Looking forward to the future stories!