A girl walked down a dark lonely sidewalk at midnight. One street lamp illuminated the dark avenue. The drizzling rain and the single street light created a halo over the girl as she traveled home. As the girl walked she thought, she thought about the warmth and comfort of her tiny apartment and she thought about the prayers she would say that night. She always planned her prayers before she got home. She brushed her thick blonde hair away from her face and put down her hood. The rain started to lighten up and silence fell. Suddenly the girl was apprehensive, on edge as if someone was following her. It was too quiet., too still. She looked around her and saw nothing but rain and darkness. The whole world stopped in anticipation.

CRASH.

She jumped a little, looking towards the dark alley where the noise came from. She laughed at herself when she found the party responsible for the sudden noise. Lurking in the darkness was a stray cat scouring through a tipped over garbage can. She put her cold hands over her chest, feeling the cross necklace over her heart and as she breathed in and out she felt her heartbeat slowing down.  When she turned around to keep walking she saw a man. He was almost twice her size and had no hair on his head, but in his hand was an empty beer bottle. His eyes were dark and seemed malicious to the girl. He threw the bottle to the floor and it landed with a loud CRASH. The girl winced. Her heart beat sped up like it was racing at the Kentucky Derby.

“Hello,” the man said. His voice was harsh and gravely, almost cold. She saw desire in his dark brutal eyes. All of a sudden he grabbed the girl. She squirmed and tried to scream but before she could get out so much as a sound his ginormous hands were over her mouth. She kicked and flailed but, the man was too strong. He pinned her down onto the hard pavement. She felt hot tears streaming down her face at an alarming rate. Her thoughts were shut down by the fear. He held on to her wrists so tightly she felt pain. She used her free hand to push the man’s face away as it was coming closer to hers. “Stop struggling!” The man shouted at her. Then, he put his hand into a fist and punched the girl in the face. She felt a jab of pain. The girl sobbed into the man’s hand. She used her free hand to grope her surroundings for a weapon. And then, she found it, her savior. A metal pipe in a pile of trash. She grabbed it and with all the strength she had left, she hit the man on the back of the head. He shrieked in pain and released his grip. The pipe was heavy but her adrenaline made it easy for her to carry it. She took her opportunity and kept hitting the man with the pipe even after she heard the crack of his skull. The pool of blood kept growing and growing. She sat against the wall of the alley and cried. She cried and cried for what felt like hours. When the police arrived the girl had a cell phone in her hand, although she didn’t remember calling the cops she was sure that she had. It was all a fuzzy blur. When the police finished asking her questions they offered to escort her to her apartment. She nodded. The policeman assigned to escort her gestured for her to follow him. They walked half a block when the girl stopped.

“Wait!” She called out. The policeman stopped at her request. The girl grabbed at the necklace of the cross over her heart and ripped it off her neck. She looked at it for a moment and threw it onto the wet sidewalk. She kept walking and never looked back.