The following is an excerpt from the book Unfamiliar Places: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of a Unfathomable Event, by Dr. Daniel Coyle, published by Random House.
It is available for preorder.
A few weeks ago, I was driving down a dirt road near my home in the small farming town of Lacey, Arkansas, when I saw a truck.
It was heading towards my house, and I slowed down to make sure no one was hurt.
The driver’s name was John.
I called him, and he said he had been looking for me all day.
I told him I was looking for my son, but he wouldn’t take me to my house.
Instead, he said I should drive the truck to my car and he would take me home.
I didn’t believe him, but the truck driver was so insistent on seeing my son that he would drive me to the place I was headed.
It took more than five minutes, but I got home safely.
As I drove back to Lacey from work, I looked out the window and saw John in front of my house in a black truck, which he had bought.
I saw tears streaming down his face.
I asked him why he was driving the truck, and John said, “I wanted to get home and take my son.”
John had been the only person in the area who didn’t have his son.
I had seen John’s son the day before, and we had gone out on a hunting trip together.
John had seen him in the hospital and said, I can’t believe it.
But then John had a sudden change of heart, and said that I could have my son back.
He said he didn’t want to leave him, that he was so worried that he wouldn
