• Stranger On The Corner

    The lime green tennis ball thuds softly on the dead grass. Sapphire bounds over to the ball; secures it firmly in her mouth; then bounds back happily. Mara kneels down to attempt to pry the ball out of Sapphire's mouth. After a fight, Mara finally claimed the ball, now immersed in dog saliva.

    "Ew... geeze, dog," She reluctantly drops the slimy ball into her backpack,"Come, Sapphire."

    Sapphire obediently saunters over. She is a beautiful malamute with pale blue eyes like sapphires. Mara secures the leash around the impatient dog's neck and looks out toward the forest to the East.

    Something about that forest always gave Mara the chills. People have disappeared in those woods lately. Some say it's because of the vicious wolves inhabiting the forest.

    Mara leads Sapphire to the road. It is oddly deserted. The cold winter isn't usually the time people go to the park and picnic. She starts down the sidewalk happily; then she sees him. A tall, dark figure in a black baseball cap and overcoat stands on the corner. Something about this man-- mixed with the darkening sky-- makes Mara uneasy.She nonchalantly leads Sapphire across the street. Her pulse starts recing when the man crosses the street simultaneously. Mara, scared to death of this random stranger, darted into the middle-man of the street and started dashing along it with Sapphire alongside her.

    Mara dropped Sapphire's leash when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. The stranger has caught up to her. He places his hand over Mara's mouth. Mara struggles like a trapped animal, but the assailant was stronger than Mara. The man started dragging Mara toward the park, but Mara was fighting tooth-and-nail to stay in the street.

    Suddenly, the stranger let go of Mara and uttered a cry of pain. Mara whirls around to see Sapphire firmly clamped to the man's ankle; his Acchiles' Heel... literally. In a split-second, she concocted a plan.

    " Come Sapphire," Mara frantically calls behind her as she bolts toward the forest.

    Sapphire follows behind and soon catches up. Mara runs into the forest and finds a fallen tree. She hides behind it and waits for her assailant. Sapphire lies down next to Mara and starts panting; Mara gets another idea from the playful puppy. She grabs her backpack from her back and rummages through it until she hears a twig snap. A quick peer over the dead log reveals the stranger entering the forest. He looks around, contemplating where she ran off to.

    Mara's hand finds the tennis ball she was happily throwing not even 15 minutes ago. She grasps it firmly, ready to aim and fire. Behind her, she hears a low, agressive snarl. In one slow, steady movement she turns to see a pack of angry wolves. What looked like their leader is snarling at the stranger. Mara takes the tennis ball and throws it with full force at the stranger. The whole pack of wolves and Sapphire run to him and attack.

    " Come, Sapphire," Mara's cue to run had come and she had no plans to miss it, nor was she leaving the one who saved her life behind.

    As Mara leaves the woods Sapphire catches up to her. They both both run home without stopping with a story to tell. She went to the police. The police searched the infamous woods ad found the bodies of 18 missing girls. They all died of brutal, torturous ways. Mara was the only survivor of 19 girls, and it was all because of Sapphire.

    They never found the man who did all this. There was no evidence of his existence except the 18 slaughtered girls and Mara's testimony. So, be wary of a psychpath on the loose...

    Be wary of a dark stranger on the corner.