Mrs. Gladys Grettle slowly sat down in the driver seat. There used to be a Mr. Jack Grettle, but he died due to old age. The only thing he left her was a dog named Lucrece. The dog never liked her, and she never liked him. Still, he wasn't ungracious, so there was no reason she couldn't spare enough tim eto make his life a little more comfortable.

She opened the passenger door to let Lucrece into the car. She was taking the dog with her to her Florida home. It was a long trip, very taxing, but she knew she wouldn't have to travel it very many times more, for she knew her time was coming. Both of them were 84. Well, the dog was really 12.

She started down the road at 1:15 in the afternoon of that Friday. Lucrece started whimpering while he huddled on the floor. Most people would expect this, but he always enjoyed the car. Mrs. Grettle started to wonder about this, but she was distracted by having to steer the car.

Like many people her age, Mrs. Grettle wasn't the best driver ever to traverse the grand expanse of highways. Therefore, she decided to just take back roads, where there is no minimum speed limit. She maintained a slow but steady pace and kept off highways, just like she was planning.

At around eight o'clock, she was at St. Ignace looking for a motel. She was already in bed by 9:00. Even though Gladys appreciated being in bed by nine, she wanted to go farther the next day. She resolved to get started at a very early time Saturday.

By 5:30 in the morning she was up and driving. She was very tired and she didn't realize Lucrece hadn't been fed since Friday morning. Jack used to become angry when that happened to the dog. Mrs. Grettle suspected he liked the dog more than her. As she went down the roads, her eyes began to wander. She started to actually enjoy the vast countryside and the colorful landscape. Once she started scanning the horizon, she started noticing deer. Jack had always had a way with deer. If he wanted to see deer, they would appear, and when she was with him the deer would always stay off the road. The horizon was the only place she could see deer at first, but as time passed they started showing themselves right by the edge of the road. One deer actually ran in front of her, as if it was going to ram into her. Luckily it missed, and she made it to her next motel safely. Fortunately for Lucrece, she remembered to feed him. He didn't eat that much of his food though, which was unusual.

Gladys overslept the next morning. The reservations for the next motel were already made, so she had to either drive later or use the highway. Since she still didn't feel safe driving on the highway, she resolved to just drive a little later. That evening, when dusk came, she noticed the deer again. This time there were more than she had ever seen at one time. Every time one ran into the forest, it seemed that two more would come out. Pretty soon they moved closer to the road. By this time, the dog was jumping up and down on the seat, scratching at the door, and barking at the deer. For a second, Mrs. Grettle was going to let him out, but she thought better of it.

One large deer came barreling out of nowhere and rammed into the side of her car. This knocked Lucrece off the seat, upsetting him. It also made Gladys very shaken. She stoppped the car and prepared to get out. Slightly pausing before she opened the door, she had second thoughts. She turned off the interior lights and contemplated her situation. She was in the middle of nowhere. There were no people, no lights, and many deer.

Suddenly a loud barrage of noises got her attention. Lucrece started barking and leaping about and scratching at the window. He obviously wanted out. Mrs. Grettle told him he couldn't and tried to console him, but it was to no avail. When she looked at the window he was barking at, her face suddenly turned white as if she had seen a ghost. She wasn't sure what it was written by, but on the windows the words, "Free Lucrece -- J.G.," were formed out of cracks and blood on the window.

Gladys gripped the steering wheel as hard as she could and started driving away. She was trying not to look at the window, but she wasn't doing very good job. Going faster and faster, she began to drive off the road. She stopped paying attention to the road, and looking at the window more and more. The thoughts in her mind became louder as she started to get perplexed. She realized she needed a moment to think, so she slammed on the brakes. Lucrece slid off the seat, causing a commotion, but she didn't even notice. Instead, she open her door and threw the dog out as fast as she could.

She started the car again and made it back to the road. While she sped down the road, she grew carless and plowed into a tree. Fortunately, she was discovered in the morning and driven to a hospital. Within a few hours she was in stable condition and was ready to be released by the next morning. Whenever Gladys was asked about how she hit the tree, she had to tell them she didn't know. The whole experience was so traumatic she had blocked it out of her memory. No one will ever know what happened to Lucrece.