Time Gate

One of my writerly friends posted a picture of arbor, overgrown with vines.  This is the story that happened....

It was nearly dawn as Margy walked alone down the sidewalk. The path was uneven and empty but for the litter of earlier travelers. Her eyes watched her feet, but without seeing them. Her mind a confusing jumble of half formed thoughts and drug hazed images.

After too many losses too young, the embrace of narcotics became a siren call to her tired heart.

The figure behind her watched her stumble along. Her posture and inattention labeled her a target. The shuffling gait shouted to him, “None will miss this one. No one cares.”

Still, he was cautious, looking around for prospective witnesses. That caution was shattered by the careless kicking of a discarded soda can.

Through veil of drugs, Margy became aware of her stalker. Her body fought the drugged indifference of her mind as it struggled for self preservation.

Her feet quickened their unsteady pace, her eyes began to look for escape. They lit upon an overgrown garden in a long neglected urban park.

The arbor entrance was drenched in vines. The space beyond, a wilderness of wildflowers and high grass. In the slowly blossoming light, she could only hope for the cover of brush. She ducked through the arbor, her stalker just footsteps behind.

He stopped, confounded by her disappearance. The old lot was a tumble of weeds and trash cans. There was nowhere she could have have gone. No place to hide. Yet, gone she was.

Margy’s eyes adjusted to the brightening sky. The park was much larger than it had seemed from the street.

She cocked her head to listen, children, she could hear children laughing. As she ventured farther, she could see a playground.

A squeal of delight reached her. “Margy! Margy, over here! We’re so glad you made it!”

A smile flowed across her face, the first in years. As she started forward, she glanced at her feet. The pink lights of her favorite pony festooned sneakers flashed brightly with every step.