Closet Stalker

A pounding at the door

seized my chest and me upright.

I tumbled out of bed,

wiping a sleepless night from

my eyes.

I flipped the porch

light on and open the door

to this woman hugging herself

in a shivering downpour,

a damp strand of hair stuck to her face,

jean shorts hugged her thighs,

and she wore a hoodie.

She missed her stop,

she said after beating

on my door.

She told me a guy was after her.

I swallowed my reservations,

ushering her inside.

What the man wanted,

the woman wouldn’t say.

Of the coffee I gave her,

she took long sips.

The inquiry of her black eye drew laughter

as she explained fighting through neighborhoods

in the hood and suburbia.

She removed her hood

and shook her hair out of the ponytail.

“Sara!” My jaw dropped. “You’re running from—”

“Told you I’d find you.”

By Andy Cooper

From: United States

Twitter: AC0040