*It was a pretty October evening, late; the kind of chill that snuck inside your clothes and made you shiver swept the park's trees, making the leaves rattle and drop from their perches. Mariam was late, as always, getting back from her friend's. They'd had a few drinks, carved pumpkins. Halloween would soon be here and it made her smile as she walked alone through the darkness of the city's greenery. It wasn't much, but the park was big; a couple kilometers long at least and always dead at this time of night. Glancing at her cell phone, she noted the time: 3:33AM. Fuck, if she didn't get home soon she'd be dead tired. Suddenly the snap of a tree branch makes Mariam pause her step. Silent as the stars, she scans the area around her for some kind of animal or maybe even another person. But... There's no one. Ha; Mariam smirks to herself. What a way to feel a week or two before Halloween. Tucking her hands back into the light cardigan she'd worn, Mariam finds herself wishing she'd chosen something bigger and warmer. At least something that zipped up. Right now her black leggings, cardigan and shirt aren't really doing the job. Ignoring yet again the feeling that she's being watched... Mariam begins to walk a little faster. She can hear car horns and the noises of the city ahead. Out of the darkness soon, and then not much farther.*
