Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One time in the middle of the night, an old lady in her 80s ____ . She gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you ____?”

    “It's not the shortest way,” I answered quietly .

    “Oh, I don't mind,” she said. “I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice(临终医院). I ____ The doctor says I don't have very long.”

   I quickly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She____where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, the place where she danced as a girl. As sun ____, we got to the hospice.

    “How much should I ____?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

    “Nothing ” I said.

    “You have to____ ” she answered.

    “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.

    “You gave an old woman some moment of happiness”. She said: “Thank you.”

    I drove into the fine morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of closing of a life. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.  For the rest of the day, I ____. What if that woman had got an unfriendly drive, or one who was impatient to his shift? What if I had refused to take the run?