THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
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She walked with measured steps, trying to focus on the building ahead in the distance. The mere sight of her apartment building was strangely reassuring. It was still a good ten minutes walk, but in the dark of night, with no sound but her own footsteps, that seemed an eternity. The alley had been well lit once, but she guessed that would have been before she had been born. Most of the streetlights now had empty sockets or did not work and the few that did bathed the alley in an eerie dim glow that was little better than darkness. She cursed herself once more for not having just taken a cab and instead walking through this god forsaken alley. And then she cursed herself for being paranoid. She had already covered half the distance and had not exactly encountered any vampires or psychos. She laughed out aloud at that thought, and checked her watch. 2:10.
She decided to focus on more pleasant thoughts, which would take her mind of this damn alley. It had been a good party tonight- shed met some of her best friends after months, and had danced to their old favorites. She needed no reminding of that- the knots in her calf muscles would do that for a couple of days. But it had been a welcome break from the monotony of work that had characterized her life for the last few months, since she moved to this new city. The building was now even closer, and she could begin to make out the outlines of individual windows. One or two lights were on, and she wondered what people were doing awake this late.
Then she froze.
Perhaps it was the rasping noise that might easily have been a cough, or perhaps it was the way the shadow flickered on the graffiti covered wall. Whatever it was, it told her she wasnt alone. She braced herself for whatever was behind her. Her mouth suddenly felt dry, and her knees seemed to give way. She wasnt sure whether she could either run or scream, if it came to it. She tried to pretend nothing had happened and started to walk again, willing her building to come closer to her. She had walked a mere five steps when she heard footsteps behind her. Unmistakably human footsteps. Perhaps it was just someone else stupid enough to walk home through this alley.
Perhaps.
She resisted an urge to panic and run, and forced herself to turn around.
Facing her was a small cat. A huge wave of relief flooded over her, followed by an urge to do something crazy. She barked at the cat, and it went scurrying away. As she continued walking, she laughed once again at the absurdity of it all. Here she was, in the middle of the night, walking down this awful alley, barking at kittens. She decided she had had a bit too much wine after all. Oh well, she would have all of tomorrow to recover from the hangover. Thats what Sundays were for, werent they?
Now her building was even closer, and she could make out a bedroom light on in her neighbors flat. She had never been to their flat, despite having lived just across the hall for nine months. In fact, she had seen them only once- in the elevator. Oh well, living alone in this city and with her work schedule left her with very little time for socializing. They had seemed pleasant enough, but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not remember their names. Mr. Whats His Name was a big man, who had laughed loudly during their brief interaction. The wife had reminded her of one of those cartoon mice- small, making squeaking noises and generally scurrying about. She smiled at the thought and kept walking.
She stumbled on a rock and her handbag fell to the ground. As she stooped to pick it up, she heard a scraping sound behind her. Probably her feline co-traveller, she thought, and turned and barked.
The man screamed and took a step back and she heard the sound of glass shattering. She screamed and slipped and fell. He recovered and began walking towards her slowly. She struggled to get up, but in her panic, slipped again. He was now just a couple of feet away. She stared in horror at the man approaching her. His clothes were torn and dirty, his hair dirty and matted. He held a broken bottle in his right hand. She tried to remember all the courses she had taken on self defence and how to handle potential muggings. But her mind was paralysed with fear.
