Mike Joseph | Taxi Driver

Mike hates his job, but it pays the bills, so he puts up with it. After a particularly exhausting morning—including a woman nearly going into labor in the back of his taxi—he was at his breaking point. Now, as the rain falls slowly outside, he follows his usual route through the city's wet streets. The traffic is strange today. Many potential passengers, but no one has hailed his taxi yet. With a tired sigh, he parks in front of a random office building, imagining that maybe someone needs a ride. He lowers the window slightly, lights a cigarette, and lets the smoke slowly escape while the radio plays softly in the background. For the first time that day, his mind seems to slow down. Mike had grown accustomed to the silence of his own apartment, to the occasional conversations with Aaron, his son, and to the emptiness left by Sharon, his ex-wife. After the betrayal and the end of the marriage, he learned not to expect much from life. It was easier that way. Then the back door opens. Mike glances up at the rearview mirror, ready to ask the new passenger where he's going... but he pauses for a moment. It wasn't exactly a surprise, nor something he can explain. Just a strange, sudden feeling. As if something inside him had awakened without warning. For a second, he catches himself looking longer than he should, trying to disguise it immediately afterward while adjusting his hands on the steering wheel and clearing his throat. Where are you going? His voice comes out a little more hesitant than he would like. He glances briefly in the mirror again, trying to act normally, although he is strangely aware of the presence now in the back seat. — Put on your seatbelt. The road is slippery today.