This happened on New Year's Eve back in 2017.

I'm from Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, and I was flying home after finishing up a semester at the University of Rochester.

I had to stay at school a semester at the University of Rochester.

I had to stay at school a week after the semester ended for personal reasons, so I unfortunately

spent Christmas relatively alone.

The flight itself was fine, but I'd already been in a sour mood before I even boarded

the plane.

I'm a big Browns fan, and as I was at the airport, the Browns lost their final game of the regular season to go 0 and 16, completely winless, and as a lifelong fan, it was a special kind of misery.

I think we were the first team to go winless since like the 80s or something. To top it off, my flight was delayed, which ruined my family's plans for the night.

Originally, we were all supposed to drive to my cousin's house together for a New Year's Eve party and stay the night.

But because of the delay, my parents decided to leave early, taking the main car. I was stuck driving the spare car alone.

My mom tried to make it up to me by leaving Vera or Golden Retriever

behind to keep me company. I wasn't thrilled about making the trip solo, but Vera was always

good company. I figured I'd make the most of it. By the time my Uber dropped me off from

the airport, it was creeping on 10 o'clock. I didn't even bother on packing. I just jammed all my stuff in the car,

got Vera, locked up the house, and got on the road. The drive itself wasn't anything special,

just miles of Ohio backroads winding through empty fields and patches of forest.

There wasn't much snow on the grounds, just a light dusting, which was nice since I hated

driving in the snow. It was pitch black dark, though. The only light came from my headlights and the

occasional farmhouse with its porch light glowing faintly in the distance. About halfway into the

trip, Vera started whining. At first, I thought she just wanted attention,

but then she stood up, pacing in the passenger seat. That's when I realized she needed to go

...