she was out ahead of the restwhich baffled her the other kids knew himhad run-ins with him  she knew in her heart they wanted no part of him

                             so why were they slow on the uptick  legs relaxed 

the way he was coming on a headstart by the time they made it to their feettheir feet churning asif running in sand in mud  clutched by heavywet concrete 

Bygod she smelled him before she heard him

PFFT she raced up the roadshe would have thought others would have taken a hint by her busting out HEY! she got a couple of casual looksnot that she sought eyecontact she saw slight hapless shrugs

                                                                                         to each their own 

she was keeping hers

RUN! she screamed over her shoulder as she ran

                                                        it wasnt like any among the bunch were antelopes zero to sixtypointzeronine milesperhour in seconds fastest land mammal in the New World very few were as quick and nimble as she

maybe she was getting quicker or more waryalert but how could they have missed his approach

his spine was twistedhe writhed upright snakelike tall moving like a hunting crane he pursued his forwardthrusted bluemilk-coloured blind right eye which may have changed itselfbecome heatseeking now that his true vision was annihilated it gaped wideopen larger than his left horriblycross   terriblyinquisitive

suddenly a few kids caught on rearedstumbled off their fannies backed off like frogs on broken legs  turning to runscreaming LEAVE ME ALONE!! worthlessly

                                                whyd they waste their breaths

standing upright his arms nearly touched the groundhis hands clawlike 

he snatched up a few of the kidstheir colouredclothing twisting like tornadoes trying to escape but who knew better  if he dropped onehed have it back before it struck the ground 

                                                          shrieks shrieks  SHRIEKS

                                                                             whyd they waste their breaths

both arms laden with strugglingcrying bodies he stopped running he paused briefly then turned he walked away slowly  ungainly

she didnt stop running until she couldnt see anyone

then she sat down panting

                            panting panting  wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeves  

she didnt want to imagine who

                                       shed learn soon enough

0751,  Monday,  25  3. 19

1544,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  27  3. 19