Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Shadows and Rain

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The prompt for this week: Unforgettable

She’s a stranger in this beautiful place and it has always been the place of her dreams. How many nights did she spend on her knees praying and asking for a chance to walk over the different streets of Paris? And days passed by and they turned into weeks and they turned into long endless years. Just when she thought it would never happen, she got an assignment that will bring her closer to her dream.

It was a few months back when she first breathed the air in Paris. And what an experience it was! Everything was viewed with a tinge of awe for the experience was new and exhilarating.

One night after a celebration with friends, she found herself walking the deserted streets from the Metro. The sound of her shoes is the only music in the air that night. A slight drizzle falls so she has her umbrella out.

Her apartment is a few blocks away from the Metro and it usually takes about
10 minutes to get to her apartment’s gate. But as she walks carefully, avoiding the puddles, she noticed a shadow out of the corner of her eyes.

She’s being followed!

Fear gripped her heart and she felt cold all over. She looked around and found the streets deserted, everyone’s probably tucked in out from the cold. And so she walked a bit faster but the shadow seems to follow suit.

She crossed the street away from him, almost running now in fear. She was sure that he’s almost onto her, his footfall padded by the rain.

She kept on walking and she’s now just two blocks away from her flat. She kept on turning and checking if the shadow is still following her. Across the street, she saw the man standing under a street lamp. He just stood there in the shadows uncaring of the rain falling on his brows.

She turned and walked more briskly as she nears her home.

A hand suddenly held her shoulder and she couldn’t stop the loud shriek she made.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”

“Whoa! Wait. It’s me, Peter. Are you okay?”

“Oh! It’s you! I thought it was someone else.”

“What do you mean, it’s someone else?”

And she told her story about the shadow and the rain and how she’ll never walk alone again.

This event happened to me personally but the story is embellished a little. I did experience the stalker in the rain when I was staying in Paris but the last part of it about the friend is fiction. I was living alone then and that event got me thinking (morbidly) about how something could happen to me and no one might know until days later. I guess it also didn't help that The Watcher was playing in the movies then and I happened to watch it before that night.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since I've been to Paris many times and just returned a couple weeks ago....you had ME right there on the streets with you!
Very good writing and seems it could be the beginning of a short story or novel.

Head Cookie said...

Sorry you had to have a stalker inspire a great story. Thanks for sharing it.

Tumblewords: said...

Yow! I was hoping this was total fiction. Nicely written!

Cherie said...

Yikes, that was edge of the seat stuff, suspense was unforgettable, Thank YOU!

Anonymous said...

Goodness, you had my heart thundering...oh yeah, stalkers are my biggest fear too. Take care.

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