The water sound was all I could hear. It was dark enough that there was a lighter shadow here and there as I went carefully through the dark alley. I stumbled and fell, the water rushing past me almost covering my face. I tried to not cough, but I had sucked in some of the cold rain run-off and I couldn’t help it.
I scrambled out of the water going down the center of the alley and up against the wall of the brick building. Some of the day’s heat was still coming off the brick, but not enough to keep the shivering from making me shake, the chain around my neck rattling. I tried to keep it from sounding too loud, but everything I did was loud in my ears.
The rushing water. It was going past me and into a drain. I could hear the fall of the water, the hollowness of the hit of the drops below. They reminded me of how hollow I felt.
The city sounded empty. I didn’t know where I was, but I knew that I wasn’t safe, yet. The few shreds of clothing I had on were holding the cold water to me, not protecting me from it. It had been raining when I had forced my way through the small window, the water coming in the way I could see how I could escape.
Escape. I pushed myself from the brick and crawled back into the water. I knew it was cold, but the blood I knew was still coming from my hands and nose would be washed away. As little trail as possible. That was what I was thinking.
I do not know how far I crawled. I would stop and listen. The rushing water would go around me, the sound of the gutter and water falling into it loud and empty sounding to me. I would start crawling again until I just hurt too much, or I heard something.
A truck. I heard and saw the lights of a truck. I scrambled against the wall again, a pile of wet trash squishing under me as I hid myself, not knowing if this was a good truck or bad truck. The lights were not even, one side being brighter and bluer than the other. The driver came very close to running me over, but I was happy that there was a can near me that he had to drive around.
He stopped a ways up the alley and left his lights on. I was scared to move, but used the lights to see what was around me. Tall looking buildings, few doors and no windows. The alley ran for a while and then there was a street. The truck had come from that direction. There had to be more traffic, and possibly help. »Read More
