She'll be ready

She'll Be Ready
By Laura McHale Holland

She ran down the sidewalk in the dark, block after block until she reached the end, the dead end, fenced off. She squinted at the wide-open field beyond, the goats under an oak, an old tractor rusted. Heart pounding, she climbed up the fence, jumped over the barbed wire top and ran behind the tractor.

Minutes later, he arrived, rifle in hand. She trembled as shots ricocheted off her metal refuge. She trembled as lights turned on all along the street, as a distant police siren grew louder, closer. She trembled when he was cuffed and pushed, swearing, into the police van. And she trembled as she packed a bag and called a cab for the airport.

Thousands of miles away now, she pumps iron, runs marathons, teaches karate. If he finds her, she’ll be ready.