sky, and everyone you meet who’s up before the sun is always so friendly. I said good morning to the few people I walked by, and they always said hi back. At one point I did notice that someone was walking behind me. I was about to turn around to say hello to them, but when I did turn there was no one there. Huh, strange. By the time I had returned to the apartments it was 7 o’clock. I brought the dogs back to their owners, and then I returned to my own apartment to get ready for work. I had to be leaving by 7:30 if I wanted to get to the shelter by 8 o’clock. It didn’t take me long to switch into my work clothes, so I had a little time to spare. I decided I would go up to my garden to pick a purple hyacinth flower for Jessica, my coworker. I knew it was her favorite flower, and I thought that maybe it would help put a smile on her face today. After I got the flower, I walked down to the ground floor and out the door. The streets seemed very quiet, especially compared to last night. I was just walking by an alley between two rundown buildings not far from my apartment when I felt someone grab me from behind! They grabbed my shoulder, threw me up against the wall of the alleyway, and pointed a gun at my chest. I had to admit that I was quite scared, at least that was until I saw the face of the man attacking me. I saw dirty-blonde hair that was greasy and disheveled. The clothes of the man also looked this way, almost as if he’d been wearing them for a few days. The corners of his mouth were downturned in a scowl, and his lips were slightly parted so you could see that he was clenching his teeth. What really got my attention, though, were the eyes. They were probably supposed to be a very bright green, but now they were dulled with pain and grief. The lids of his eyes were puffy and red, as if he’d been crying. When his eyes met my own, I could see so many emotions running through them. Fear, loss, confusion, terror, guilt… I saw all of these in just mere seconds. All I wanted to do was pull him into a hug. I might have if not for the gun pointed at me. “Are you ok?” I asked the poor kid. His gun started to shake as he responded with a hoarse voice, “W-why would you care? I’ve got a gun pointed at your chest, I’d be a little more worried about yourself right now.” “Yeah, but you seem really upset,” I told him. It was then that I recognized him. He was one of the men from Maggie’s apartment. I looked around the alleyway, but I couldn’t seem to find his brother. “Where’s your brother? I would really like to apologize to both of you for what happened yesterday.” Page 90
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