Wandering

I didn't really know where I was. The sights, the smells, the noises; nothing around me was familiar. I knew I was only a couple of hours from home, at most. The clothes on my back were torn and dirtied and my skin was blackened with dust. Tears stains caked the dust against my face and it probably wasn't healthy as it dug into the cuts on my knees and in my hands.

I had no idea where I was and I didn't want to be here, either. The streets were dark and littered with garbage. The stench of rotting food and road kill every now and then was enough to make your eyes burn. All of the houses were dark and run down, with chain link fences around them. Behind some, you could hear men and women arguing, teenagers fighting, children crying. Large, mean dogs would try to tear through the gates while their jaws snapped, their saliva flying and their teeth having the ability to break bones if you got near.

Police cars were slowly roaming the streets. Every now and then they'd be following a car chase, parked in drive ways to post evacuation notices. The sound of gun shots put holes through my stomach in fear.

I was afraid of every single person I had come across. I just turned away and dashed to the other side of the street. Nowhere in this neighborhood seemed safe to me. I just wanted to get home, see a familiar street sign, be somewhere safer. I didn't have my phone, I was very sore and tired, and I had no money. Just the spare change in my pocket. And just then, I saw my only beacon of hope. A pay phone.

I ran up to it and put the fifty cents in and dialed my best friend's number. I picked up the phone, and my hope drained. There wasn't even a connection to a different line. Not even an operator's voice could come through the dead phone. My eyes welled with tears, and nothing could carry my hope now. I sat down on an abandoned bus stop bench, then held my knees to my chest and held myself tight. I shivered between sobs, realizing that it was only forty degrees. I wasn't really expecting to walk to nowhere for hours after going into the small store. I was only in a tank top and my denim jeans, with a pair of thong sandals on. My coat was taken earlier; I didn't really have a choice. It was either the jacket or my life at that point.

I was cold, tired, and afraid if I'd ever see the people I love again.

I couldn't call anyone, because my phone was in my stolen purse and I wasted my money on a dead pay phone. I couldn't even get change back. I got up after a few minutes and walked back the way that I had come from, hoping nobody would pass by again.

My vision was starting to get fuzzy, like white noise on a television, only all of it went black. I leaned against an old brick wall, closing my eyes. Two small, bright lights came from the distance, but I closed my eyes as I sat down next to the wall. I couldn't see them after they were a hundred feet closer anyways, I had completely lost my vision. All I heard was tires slowing to a stop near me. God, I prayed, if this is the last person I ever see, let them kill me quickly.

I could hear and sense the person approaching me. I curled up next to the wall and whimpered as my eyes welled with tears. The only thing I heard before I passed out was something wonderful. Something I wanted to hear. I heard hope.

"Cadence?"