LATE ONE NIGHT

The No. 44 bus pulled up at her bus stop, and Glynnis stepped out into the cold night air.

The wind blew and she wrapped her scarf one more time around her neck, then stuck her gloved hands deep in her pockets and started walking the five blocks towards home. As she walked, she listened intently to the sounds around her, dogs barking, the distant honking of a horn, laughter as she passed a bar.

Would he follow her tonight? She wondered. And even as the words went through her mind, she heard him. The footsteps behind her, slow, measured, precise. Her heartbeat quickened, her pulse raced. Immediately, she felt the tension in her body, and her breath hitched in her throat.

She would NOT look around, she thought. It could be anyone. It might not be …..him. But the footsteps sounded the same. Her ears strained, trying to judge the distance between her and the footsteps behind her. She didn’t want him to know she knew he was there.

She increased her pace, lengthening her stride. She had to get home. She had to get there before him. There was a cough behind her. Close! Much closer than she had thought! She bit back a gasp, her nerve endings reacting.

She rounded the last corner; home was just down the block. She broke into a run, off the pavement and along the cobbled stones, the heels of her boots threatening to let her down at any minute. She heard his ragged breathing as he ran behind her, his laugh as he ran straight past her, reaching the door before her.

“Yes! I won! You make dinner!” her brother shouted gleefully.

“We can‘t keep doing this, John,” she laughed breathlessly, hands on her knees as he unlocked the front door.


300 words