The Way Home, part 4: Violet

"I'm sorry, Violet!" and then he wished he could take the words back, but they were there, hovering in the sharp air. She turned, as if in slow motion.

He looked around for a place to hide, but there was only the guy, whatever his name, in his guard uniform. He considered for a moment ducking behind those boxy shoulders and stout frame, but knew it wouldn't work. So he had to stand his ground.

"Randy?" she asked, and the sound of her voice made his knees weak. "That you?" She peered through the dark of the night, the hush of the snow. She didn't see him. "Did you see which way Frankie went?"

"Yeah it's me," Randy said. Now Joe remembered him. The football team. He had tutored Randy in History so he didn't get kicked off the team. Randy had befriended him, and he was no longer the odd one. The one everyone looked askance at. Everyone but Violet. "Sorry, Vi. I didn't see him."

Randy took a step towards Violet. Joe was just a shadow, standing there in his dark hat and coat. This was his last moment to escape, he knew, before she saw him. He could slip down the alley and go over the fields, and that is when Violet turned to the shadow that was Joe and said...