Authored by Maryjayynne

Verse One

“The screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways,

Like a vision she dances across the porch…”

As the radio plays, she spins her body into a near perfect pirouette. Near perfect because she has not run herself, barefoot, into the cardboard boxes stacked on the floor again. The unnerving sound of the doorbell causes her to stumble and she bites her tongue rather than letting out a yelp.

This is the first time shes heard it, and the sound immediately sets her heart to racing and makes the cold sweat pop out on the back of her neck. She relocated two nights ago, putting the curtains up with staple gun first thing, then unloading, alone, in near silence. The old Chevy truck had ample space but she did not bring any more than was absolutely necessary. The load in didn’t take more than twenty minutes, which was why she was so surprised to be found out.

Most of the arrangements had been orchestrated by the others, but It was only the heads up from the computer analyst stationed in California that gave her enough time to run. Holly was able to track everyone and knew, for the most part, about even the smallest details her friends, and enemies, tried to hide. She could tell you where you were last night, what crumbs were on your keyboard and most importantly, what He was doing. So, when Mary got the message, she knew it was time to bolt.

The message didn’t only reach her. There were several others who were in jeopardy. Their home bases were scattered across the country and everyone had at least two safe havens, or dens, in which to seek shelter. When word got out it was up to each of them to move as quickly and as quietly as possible. Because of her close proximity to Him, however, Mary needed their help to find shelter. With a few short communiques from the detectives and a brief smoke signal from the teacher in New York, she knew exactly where to go.

So here she was, mid spin, wondering how she could have been found out, if the radio could be heard outside the door, and how she would be able to get to the cardboard box that held the only weapons that could save everything.

They say that in their last moments, a persons entire life can flash before their eyes. In that brief moment, before she allowed her feet to drop flat on the floor,Mary saw with painful clarity that this was true.