It was bright and blurry. Sun beams lit the red bricks on the buildings, giving the area a maroon tint. I looked around and saw about five people strolling; they seemed scared and kept to themselves. I put my legs on the ground from the bench I had been sleeping on; the one that had blue and yellow graffiti on it, not like the green and purple one I had slept on the night before. As I stood up and pulled my sagging pants I saw my mother. I walked towards her; she was crying.
“What’s wrong mom?” I asked loudly from down the concrete path. She didn’t answer. She just looked at me, nodding her head. I started to walk closer.
“I talked to her today,” she sniffed. I raised an eyebrow and sped up. I was about six feet away when she raised her arm like a crossing guard, so I stopped walking. I noticed she wasn’t looking directly at me.
“Who mom?” I asked as she changed her hand motion to a pointed finger; pointing in my direction. I looked around. Everything looked the same, but when I listened closely I could hear scattering feet. I kept spinning around to see if I could catch a glimpse of her. I stopped when my mother opened her mouth to say something.
“Look, I don’t know what you did, but BOY you better be sorry! Just go before she gets you,” she sighed as she turned for the door.
“I’m glad I could kick you out before it got this far,” I heard my mother say as she went to open the gated door to the building. I didn’t move. I stood still and stared straight ahead. What could I have done?
“God, Shawn, RUN!” My mother screamed. I could hear she was in pain. She didn’t want me to run. She wanted me to stay safe with her. I turned around and started to walk away. I heard the footsteps again. She was really following me! I heard her breath and by reflex my feet started to quicken.
“Why is she after me?” I panted in a whisper.
“Don’t act so innocent Shawn,” I heard her say. I stopped to reminisce, just to check to see if I had done anything wrong. Johnny was the first name to pop into my mind.
“Damn it!” I thought, “I should have never put a hand on that bastard!” I tried to hide my emotions. It was a mix of anger and sadness, but I couldn’t let her see it
“I-I didn’t do anything,” I stuttered trying not to slip up.
“Then you’re not thinking deep enough into your memory,” she whispered is a sassy, annoying voice.
“L-look,” my teeth started to chatter as I tried to stay strong. “It doesn’t even matter if I did do something. I will never admit it or say sorry.” I started to run away again. Whenever people had said she would come for you if you did something wrong, I had always assumed it was to keep you from doing bad things; like a fib to get you freaked out.


I sprinted to the exit of the housing area and stopped. I had never been out of the Marcy Housing projects; not even for school! I didn’t know my way around, but I decided my young life depended on it. I continued to go forth.
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After I ran for a while longer my heart beat began to speed up and my breaths became deeper; I had to stop. I took a look around and she was nowhere in sight. I calmed down and leaned against a tree planted on the sidewalk.
“Maybe she stopped chasing me,” I thought as I gazed at the almost, cloudless sky.


I don’t remember how long my eyes were closed for, but it must have been a while because when I opened them the sky was dark and the air felt sinister. I pushed of the tree to a standing position. I didn’t know whether to run straight ahead or just cry. But just then, the ground began to shake. I felt like the Earth was crumbling around me. I heard the cracks being formed and watched as the floor split beneath my feet, then backed away from the edge. Suddenly I felt something rap around my arms; she was holding me. My breathing became deeper again as I watched the ground split further and further apart.

“You can’t get away,” Karma whispered into my ear as she pushed me closer and closer to the edge.