Once upon a time, on a night just like this, following off and on rains that left shallow puddles zagging through the sidewalks, a girl was very tired. And the cold, damp weather did nothing to excite her taste for adventure. Still, her weekend evening chores dragged her back and forth on a long walk. On her way, she became aware of a rare earie silence. When she paused to look around for the souce of the silence, her eyes were met by no people walking by, no lights in windows, no music or telivision sounds to be heard from the neighborhood in which she lived.
"Where is everybody?" She asked herself. "It's a weekend and everyone should be out, drunk, loud, and obnoxious." But there was only the distant sound of cars downtown and a calm conversation in a house around the corner. She trudged on, trying not to splash rainwater on her ankles, wishing she were with someone safe.
She only met a few locals and a couble of older business men when she crossed Main St. By the time she crossed back over, it was even more deserted. The form of a gangly man under a bridge was barely vissible, outlined only by reflections of street lamps on the wet pavement he stood on. But he became more identifiable as he walked closer to the girl while she waiting at the crosswalk for their unavoidable encounter. He caught up to her just as the traffic stopped for pedestrians. It would be a long walk home, and she would be followed every step of the way.
As she walked on slowely, hoping he'd pass, no sound interrupted the steps of her shoes and the sloshes of his steps, immediatelt behind hers. But suddenly, he broke the silence with a painfully unignorable word.
"Karen?"
Turning around and finaly seeing the face of her pursuer, she recognized him immediately. "Hi, hi, it's you!" she responded.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Just back to my house. I'm turning in early tonight."
"Well since yo udon't have plans already, you shoud; come with me to a party. It's on East Paris. You know Kim, right? It's her house!" He obviously didn't consider getting sleep much of a plan, so she played along with the idea for lack of a better tactic. At least she would have some company on her walk to bed.