Night Walks

Ruby grinned as she tied her walking shoes. She always looked forward to these walks. Giving her cat a gentle pet, she donned her headphones and sauntered out the door, locking it behind her.

The full moon bathed her path in silver light, illuminating the way better than most nights. Comforted by its glow, she felt a bond with the moon, always watching over her, guiding her through the darkness, unlike the sun, which just burned her fair skin.

"I think it's a Nirvana night," she said to herself as she picked her playlist. Volume all the way up, she had a spring in her step in the crisp night air. 2:00 A.M. was the best time for a walk. No people. No traffic. Just her, alone with her music, her imagination, and her thoughts.

Her friends and family hated that she did this. A woman should never walk alone at night, they'd warn her. She understood their concern. She listened to true crime podcasts all day while she worked a boring data entry job. She was no stranger to the fact that bad things happen, even in the best parts of town. Ruby lived in Arvada, a sprawling suburb of Denver, and generally a safe place where the worst that happened was auto theft and petty crimes.

The sidewalk ended abruptly, and she crossed the street without looking both ways. On these walks, she felt as if she had the city all to herself. If she didn't know the lay of the land by heart already, finding where the sidewalk began again on the other side of the street may have been difficult in the darkness. She tripped on an uneven crack in the sidewalk. "Whoops!" she giggled. She passed by an odd space in the fence, possibly where there was once an electrical box, or a fire hydrant at some point. Now it just stood empty and pitch black. Great place to hide if you were some psycho planning to grab a young girl as she walked alone at night. She only considered the possibility for a minute and found it didn't concern her at all, really.

She sang along with Curt Cobain's live rendition of "Dumb". As she walked along, she danced in the shadows of the leaves on the sidewalk. They made such pretty designs. It reminded her of how they did the same on the wall in her apartment. It was the only good thing about that garish floodlight that illuminated the exterior of her building. She made a mental note to grab a big piece of paper from the sketchbooks she stored under her bed and trace the shadows of leaves on her wall when she returned home.

She walked by two homes that were set back in a heavily wooded area and protected from looky-loos by gates. These were the type of mysterious houses that local children create urban legends about and get in trouble when daring each other to trespass. One of the gates stood wide open to a gaping maw of pitch black. She stopped and considered walking in and exploring. What's the worst that could happen? Judging from the KEEP OUT - PRIVATE PROPERTY sign adorned with conservative political bumper stickers, it was a safe bet that the owner was short on patience and owned a gun. Maybe they're crazy redneck cannibals just waiting for a curious teenager - or woman walking alone at night - to cross the threshold into their waiting trap.

She giggled at her own imagination running away with her. She'd spent her whole life wondering who lived there. What's a few more years? She walked on past the next gated home, which was actually visible through the trees that separated the owner's beautiful sanctuary from the harsh world beyond their property line. She had always thought it was a particularly charming house with its bright yellow paint and white trim. Never once had she seen the gate open or anyone walking around in there. Maybe they were super anti-social people hiding a family secret. Maybe they had a feral child living in the attic that would tear an unsuspecting visitor to pieces if given the chance.

Ha! There it was again, that crazy imagination of hers.

She continued on, bracing herself for the hill. This hill was a 14 percent grade on one side. Ruby and her friends used to roll stolen jack-o-lanterns down the hill on Halloween, hooting and hollering as they broke and splattered all the way down. Nowadays, the hill serves as a great workout for her. She started out strong, keeping a quick tempo along with her music. About halfway up, her pace slowed to a steady climb, and a car came flying over the top of the hill, bouncing a couple of times before gaining control again. The driver either did that on purpose for the thrill, or isn't from around here. Ruby considered for a moment the possibility of a car losing control and veering off onto the sidewalk, flattening her like a pancake.

"Highly unlikely, but definitely more plausible than the red necks or the feral child," she said to herself between breaths as she struggled to keep the pace.

She reached the top just as her favorite Nirvana song began. She turned and admired the view for a moment. There were thousands of twinkling lights on the outskirts of Arvada. Not that breathtaking, by any means, but after a climb like that, it's not a bad place to chill and catch your breath.

Ruby surveyed the landscape of her childhood from the highest point in her hometown. Her breath became more even and she started to feel the chill of the night on her skin again. She turned and continued her walk down the other side of the hill. "Hey! Wait! I've got a new complaint. Forever in debt to your priceless advice..." she sang along without a care in the world whether she was on key, because who was around to hear her? No one.

At the bottom of the hill is where it got sketchy. This was where the street was lined with tall privacy fences and was scarcely lit. Ruby veered off the sidewalk onto a dirt path that cut through the area between the creek and the neighborhood's backyards. It eventually ends where the paved path heads into the neighborhoods (a much safer route than the dirt path for a woman walking alone at night). With no lights and the thick tree coverage blocking the light of the full moon, Ruby has to use her phone's light to find her way. The path is usually only used by cyclists, but Ruby prefers to always go where others generally don't.

Suddenly, she saw movement off to her right toward the creek and she quickly aimed her light in that direction. A homeless man had camped out there for the night. He shielded his eyes from the bright cell phone LEDs. He may have been saying something, but Ruby never heard it. For a moment, she wondered if the man would see this as an opportunity and do something to her. She picked up the pace and paused her music, but didn't allow herself to panic.

That's the trick, you know. Never let them know you're scared.

It really is sad that women must think this way as they go about minding their own business. Even by the light of day, a woman must always be aware of her surroundings and the possibility of trouble.

Once she made it to the paved walkway that would guide her through the park, back in the direction of her apartment, she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure she hadn't been followed. She was alone once again. She relaxed and continued her walk through the park, looking at the beautiful full moon most of the way. It was bright enough that it illuminated the backyards of the houses that lined the park, and she admired some of the landscaping, occasionally wondering what it would be like to live in this house or that one.

As she neared the street her apartment was on about a mile south from there, the path forked and she had to make a choice. Walk to the right and come out on the street well lit and safe, or walk to the left and enter the tunnel that goes under the street. She could just imagine what her mother would think if she knew Ruby was heading straight into the dark tunnel in the dead of night.

Her concern would be warranted that night.

A man was standing at the other end of the tunnel. Ruby stopped and pulled her headphones down to her neck so she could hear. "Hello?" she called out. The mad said nothing. "How's it going?" she asked.

The man broke into a run... straight for her.

The sounds of screams, a violent struggle, and tearing flesh echoed through the stillness of the night. Blood covered the graffiti-painted walls of the tunnel. Body parts were strewn from one end of the tunnel to the other. An animalistic howl emanated from the darkness before a deafening silence settled in.

Ruby emerged from the tunnel, clothing tattered and torn, with blood in her hair, but fine for the most part. She wiped her face with the sleeve of her hoodie and used it again to clean the gore off of her headphones.

She put them back on, turned the music up, and headed south toward home. "What is wrong with me..." she sang along, the spring back in her step.

Night walks had always been her favorite.