Face in the Crowd

I saw a woman the other day, and I'll never forget her.  She wasn't particularly pretty or anything like that.

I was putting groceries in the trunk of my car when I looked up and saw her, sitting in the back seat of a car, some feet away.  There was a man outside the car, talking on his phone, but I was too far to hear him.  She mouthed something but I couldn't tell what she had said.  Not then, at least.

It wasn't until I got home, put away my purchases, and turned on the television that my heart sank.

There, on the local news, was the story of a kidnapped woman.  She was the woman in the car that I had seen.  Thinking back to her I realized what it was she had tried to say:

"Help me."

Clenched and Sweating

Joey clenched his teeth hard as the railing next to him shook with the force of his grip. He envisioned his mother warning him about doing that. Sweat cascaded down his tanned face, intermingling with locks of his long black hair. His striking blue eyes were bloodshot as he prepared himself for the fight of his life. He didn't want to be in the arena, with the expectations it placed upon him, but he was there. He knew what he had to do to relieve the curse placed upon him by that gypsy. He had to shit, and shit bad.