It was a snowy evening, and I was on my way back to the convent, after being sent out early in the van to take some kids back home from Sunday school. I came around a corner, and the rear of the van slid out and hit a large rock on side of the road forcing it to slide the other way taking out a mailbox. I tried to regain some composure as I exited the van, but I ended up face down in the snow.
The next thing I knew a man was carrying me. He brought me inside his house, and he laid me on the couch. He asked me if I was okay. I looked at him, he was in his 30's he had brown hair and brown eyes, and he was about 6 feet tall. I stood up a little groggily, and started to tell him I needed to get back to the convent. He said that he thought that would be almost impossible tonight because of the weather out there, and besides my van was in no condition to drive. I looked out the window down the long driveway, the snow was piling up fast, and I could see the outline of the van crooked in a snow bank with the mailbox leaning forward.
I said, I'm sorry about your mailbox, he said, mailboxes were made to be fixed, young girls aren't, and he continued, he asked me if I was cut or bleeding anywhere, I told him no, I am just a little shaken up. He asked me my name; I told him my name is Sister Jaime Micheals. He then told me his name; he said my name is Thomas, Thomas Spraque.
I told Thomas that it was nice to meet him. Thomas replied, the pleasure is all mine, he continued to say that he could tell that I was all wet, and that I could use his bathroom to take off my clothes and he would dry them. I was a little hesitant at this point, I mean taking off my clothes in mans house, I've never taken my clothes off in front of a man before. Thomas noticed that I was hesitant; he said if you don't you're going to get cold, and maybe get pneumonia. I said to him, that's what my dad always said to me when I was a young girl after going sledding with my mom and my sister.
Thomas then said to me, then think of me as your dad, and do what you think is right. I got up again kind of stumbly, I made it to the bathroom, and I started to take off my clothes, everything was wet, my habit, straight through to my undergarments. I took them off, but then said loudly for Thomas to hear through the door, what ever will I wear? He handed me a long flannel shirt, and I said, is this it, I have no undergarments. He said the only thing he had is his, and that I was too petite for them to fit.
I said well this will have to do. His shirt fit me like a tent anyway; it covered my 4'11" body and hung just below my knees. I asked him if he had a brush or a comb, he said he did, they were in the top drawer right below the sink. I brushed my red hair out straight, and although I never go out of the convent without my hair neatly tucked up under my coif and veil, for some reason I didn't care.
I tried really hard to walk without falling, until I made it back to the couch where Thomas laid me after the accident, I didn't want to fall and have this shirt come up for all him to see. I made it back to the couch after handing him the clothes to be put in the dryer. At that moment the electricity in the house shut down.
Thomas said oh great, I can't dry these as of yet, cause the dryer needs electricity. I sighed, and said, I wonder how long that will be. Thomas said he didn't know, but by the looks of the storm outside it could be awhile. I looked out the window again, and it was snowing so hard that you couldn't even see the van at the end of the driveway. I asked him if he had a phone, he said he did, but it was out long before I got in the accident. I told him that there was a cell phone in the van. Thomas said, there isn't any signal out here on a normal day, let alone on a day like today.
I said, well I guess were stuck. He said yes we are, then he asked if he could get anything for me, coffee, tea, a blanket, I said still feeling unsure of being naked with just his shirt on, I said a blanket would be nice.
Thomas went to the other room, and got me a blanket, when he returned, he handed me the blanket, and said would you like anything to eat? I told him I was feeling a little hungry, he said he could make me a toasted cheese sandwich, and some chicken noodle soup. I said that was fine. Thomas said he was going to make one for himself too.
Thomas started to make us lunch, he asked me about the convent, and how I ended up a nun. I told him that I had some trouble with the kids I went to school with, and on my 18th birthday right after I graduated two months ago, I decided I was going to become a nun. Thomas said, so only two months? I said yes, he asked how I liked it so far, and I told him, it takes a little getting used to, but the other nuns are nice, a lot better than what I was used to in my school surroundings.