Crazy Sally

I think I’ll head to bed soon, but before I go, here’s a bit more story.

***

Night time in the big city saw Crazy Sally out on the streets, patrolling her usual haunts. She found cans and bottles in a trash basket and transferred them to one of the reusable grocery bags she carried. Tomorrow, she could take them to the recycling centre for cash. It meant going out during the day, but it would be worth the risk, and she wouldn’t be out long.

“Hey, Sally!” She turned toward the voice. It was Sam. He was alone tonight. She waited where she was for him to approach. “Got a present for you,” he said, and held out a paper bag. Sally nodded and accepted the gift, stowing it away for later. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

“Candles would be good,” said Sally. “Candles.” She nodded. “I’m out of candles and they don’t like fire, you know that. Keeps them away. They like daytime, but they don’t like candles.”

“I’ll get you some,” Sam promised. “Sally, do you remember what you said last week? About Brenda? About the park?” He paused. “About me?”

“Read your palm,” said Sally. She held out her hands.

“Sure,” Sam said with a brief exhalation.

Sally bent over Sam’s upturned palm and studied the lines. “Good. Good. You stayed at the night job. That’s good. You know that. Be careful when you go running, if you run outside in the light. You might have to run faster than you ever ran before.”

Sam looked at the top of Crazy Sally’s head. “How do you know about the run?” he asked.

“Be careful in the daylight. They can’t see well at night. Danger is in the daytime. You know that.” She released his hand and looked up into his face. He met her gaze.

“What are they, Sally?” he asked.

“Devils. Unnatural devils. Something that shouldn’t exist. Stay in the light, Sam.” Crazy Sally stared hard at Sam, then whirled away and vanished down an alley.

Sam stood where he was for a long moment, thinking about Brenda and David’s demise in the park last week. This coming Sunday was the run for cancer research. He hadn’t missed it for the past three years, and he had quite a few sponsors for this year. He felt he had to go to the run, but he would definitely keep his eyes open and make sure he had reserves of energy to sprint—just in case.

***

 This fighting with the formatting is making me insane, but that’s okay.