Hi, my name is marissa and this happened on the big island of hawai'i. My parents and I were looking for our hotel late at night and were getting frustrated. Then, we saw this old lady sticking her thumb out on the side of the road. She looked innocent with her long, gray hair and wrinkled face so we picked her up. We asked her where she was going and she said "Kona", which is a city on the island. Now you have to imagine this: We were in Hilo which is about 100 miles from the Kona coast. I secretly knew that my parents were hesitating about taking her to her destination because it was so far and it was about 9:00 at night. Kona can be pretty dangerous at night. So I looked at her and she was just gazing out the window, although the way to Kona was pitch black because the city doesn't have much streetlights. She asked my parents for a cigarette and they didn't smoke so they offered to drive her to get some. She said "mahalo" and patiently waited. About 5 minutes later when I checked on the old woman, SHE WAS GONE! She couldn't have got out of the car so fast! We had a van with locked doors and she simply dissapeared! I asked my mom and dad if they had let her get out and they said they didn't. What do you think? I think it was Pele* in her old woman form.
* Pele is the hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and usually appears in a form and is usually found on the side of the road trying to get an item. She sometimes appears in people's dreams.
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According to Hawaiian legend, Pele will quite often test people to see if they are being kind to each other. She will punish or reward accordingly.
She can take other forms. She can be a beautiful young woman, an old "tutu" (grandma), a little white dog, or once in a while a little black dog. Whatever the case, do not turn your back on helping someone--especially if you are in Hawai'i!
I will shortly be posting a story about Pele on Moloka'i.