Staying safe | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Staying safe | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ken Grant
08/02/14
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Tammy Henderson stood at the edge of her front yard lawn. For all of her life it had been her boundary unless she was with a parent or other adult. It was an invisible barrier that kept her from her favorite place in the world. She loved to go to the park. She loved to have fun on the playground. Today she would do it alone. She looked back. She knew her mother was distracted and that this was her opportunity. She screwed up her courage and took the first step onto the sidewalk. She looked around but nobody noticed her. It seemed as though the world was happening but she was unseen. She started walking down the sidewalk. With each step the guilt was lessening and her sense of freedom was growing. Finally she got to the corner. She could see the playground; so close and yet so far. She had to cross the street. She had never crossed the street alone and this thought both terrified her and excited her at the same time.

“Remember, right and left, Tammy,” She said to herself.

Tammy looked to the right and then to the left and with strength she didn’t know that she had she began to cross the street. She half-walked and half-ran until she was across and racing toward the playground. The world lay before her eyes. Everything was possible now. She was free. She played and played without a thought in the world. She didn’t think about her mother. She thought only of pure fun. Finally she sat down under a tree completely exhausted and incredibly happy.

“That was fun,“ Tammy crowed.

As Tammy sat up and looked around she sensed something was not right. She had a strange feeling in her stomach and that was never a good thing. She stood up, wiped the grass off of her shorts and shirt and started to walk back home. She wanted to be home so very badly. Fear welled up inside her as she saw a man approaching her from her left.

“Come here little girl, “ The man called as he began to approach more quickly.

“No!” Tammy screamed as she took off running.

The man immediately began to run toward her. She began to run with everything in her body. She was approaching the street. She knew to look right and left before crossing, but she had no time. She thought about slowing down, but as she did the man swiped at her and almost got hold of her arm. Without looking she raced into the street with the man close behind. Screeching tires and a car horn exploded into the air before there was a thump behind her and the sound of the man yelling in pain.

“Hey you, stop!”

Tammy didn’t stop. She ran and ran until she got home. She ran inside the house and as she did she caught her mother’s eye.

“What have you been doing, Tammy?”

“I have been being safe. The right and the left it keeps me safe.”

“Okay,” Her mother said before going back to what she had been doing.

Tammy went into her room, sat down on the carpet, and wept softly. She had been so afraid. The right and the left did keep you safe, but not always. Sometimes you had to break the rules to be safe; lesson learned.

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