Dizzy,

I stumble along an alleyway.

It’s nighttime and

I’m bleeding.

My shirt is torn and

There’s a gaping wound

In my chest.

I’m losing strength, but

I continue on,

Calling hoarsely, breathlessly

For help.

I’d been stabbed by

A total stranger for

A handful of change and some gum.

I feel my life

Ebbing away from me.

Still, I stagger along.

I come to a house,

It’s lights are on, and

I knock.

The door opens, a

Woman looks at me and gasps.

I must’ve been a sight.

Bloody, battered, with

My gaping wound and

Multiple bruises.

She takes me in and

Assesses the damage.

She calls for help,

An ambulance.

While we wait, I

Tell her about 

The stranger in the alley.

My mom is out somewhere,

She hasn’t heard about the attack yet.

She probably won’t for awhile.

The paramedics arrive,

By then I’m pale, and

They load me up.

The woman accompanies me.

Later, when I’m stitched up and clean,

She comes into my room and

I thank her.

That’s when I realized that 

There ARE kind people

In this world.