Out of the Shadows
5:00 AM
Twilight. Balance between darkness and sunrise.
I started on my warm up walk for my run.
Adjusting my bluetooth headphones, and looked backed and forth to cross the street.
'Wait a second,' I thought, 'was that a woman walking up the street wearing an off the shoulder blouse like she just came back from a club?'
I didn't want to look back and get distracted, and walked forward.
I heard someone screaming. She was screaming for help!
"Help me! Help!"
I removed my headphones and turned around to see the teenage girl with the off the shoulder blouse running after me.
"He's following me!" she said.
I looked back and saw a man further down the road.
"Help me," she said, "please."
Suddenly in that moment, all my comic book dreams came to life. I was the dark knight stepping out of the shadows to help someone alone in distress. The only difference was I always imagined myself ready to protect myself, like carrying a baseball bat. Instead I was just wearing shorts, a dry-fit shirt and headphones.
"Where do you live?" I asked, trying to use my deep, authoritative super-hero voice.
She pointed up the street.
"I'll walk you home," I said. I looked at my phone to check the time and see that I still had time for my run.
Even though she was running away from a strange man, nevertheless even though I was a perfect stranger, still I somehow shined a sense of safety and protection.
No cape. No cowl. No superpowers. I walked up the street as a protector, from out of the shadows.
Twilight. Balance between darkness and sunrise.
I started on my warm up walk for my run.
Adjusting my bluetooth headphones, and looked backed and forth to cross the street.
'Wait a second,' I thought, 'was that a woman walking up the street wearing an off the shoulder blouse like she just came back from a club?'
I didn't want to look back and get distracted, and walked forward.
I heard someone screaming. She was screaming for help!
"Help me! Help!"
I removed my headphones and turned around to see the teenage girl with the off the shoulder blouse running after me.
"He's following me!" she said.
I looked back and saw a man further down the road.
"Help me," she said, "please."
Suddenly in that moment, all my comic book dreams came to life. I was the dark knight stepping out of the shadows to help someone alone in distress. The only difference was I always imagined myself ready to protect myself, like carrying a baseball bat. Instead I was just wearing shorts, a dry-fit shirt and headphones.
"Where do you live?" I asked, trying to use my deep, authoritative super-hero voice.
She pointed up the street.
"I'll walk you home," I said. I looked at my phone to check the time and see that I still had time for my run.
Even though she was running away from a strange man, nevertheless even though I was a perfect stranger, still I somehow shined a sense of safety and protection.
No cape. No cowl. No superpowers. I walked up the street as a protector, from out of the shadows.
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