Out of the Shadow (26 page)

Adrian shouted loud enough to drown out the rush hour traffic. He released my arm to rub his eyes. The shock sent him stumbling sideways. With only a small shove, he lost his balance and slid over the side of the hill in a spray of dirt and debris.

To my surprise, the yelling continued way past the point it should have according to physics. With hammering heart, I peered over the rim and saw him dangling below by the nape of his jacket caught on a tree branch.

Spotting me, he stopped screaming and began to beg. "I need you to help me, Sarah. You know you can’t leave me like this. It’s not in your nature. I promise if you help me out, I’ll never hurt you..."

I began to back away and, as I did, he implored louder and more aggressively. His tone turned belligerent. "Don’t leave me. You can’t do this. You’ll never be able to live with yourself. Help me...''

I spun around to leave, and his words became arrows piercing me.

"Come back here you bitch...don’t you dare leave me hanging here...if I get my hands on you you’re a dead cunt..."

I hustled to the car as quickly as my feet would carry me. Once inside, I silently thanked Drew for one thing, leaving the keys in the ignition. Retracing our earlier trip, I pulled onto the East River Drive and headed straight into Center City Philadelphia. The setting sun to the west illuminated the skyline with a supernatural glow. Buildings looked iridescent; their reflections shimmering in the Schuylkill River below. Beyond them skyscrapers reached up to touch the heavens.

I rolled down the window and breathed in the cool evening air. When far enough from Adrian, I’d call the police and direct them to him. In the meantime, I reveled in my newfound power. My sense of mastery. Since Ken left, or maybe long before that, I’ve felt as if I was at the mercy of men who didn’t give a hoot about me. Today I experienced a new freedom and a new happiness.

If I could handle Drew, I could certainly depend on myself to deal with whatever a saner man would send my way. With my foot on the accelerator, I sped up. No one could stop me now.

For once in my life, I didn’t feel like a man had the upper hand. I knew I could leave him hanging. And that’s exactly what I did.

The End

About the Author

J S Winn earned graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Metaphysical Sciences. She has one prior novel published in genre, and one play produced by the Actor’s Alliance Festival in San Diego. Her poetry has been anthologized in, For the Love of Writing, by the San Diego Writer’s Workshop in 2011. Her play, Gotcha!, was selected for a reading at the Village Arts Theater in Carlsbad, California, May 2012.

She presently lives by the beach in San Diego County, California.