I couldn't wait; we have so much to talk about. I woke up early this morning anticipating a wonderful day with an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while. In fact, it had been an entire year. How quickly the time goes by. We had known each other since we were babies and were inseparable through high school. Throughout our college years we spoke regularly. Eventually, we started seeing each other less frequently.

I finished getting ready and took a cab ride to Kelly's apartment. When I arrived, we immediately began to discuss what was going on in each others lives. Kelly was still single and complaining that all she ever did was work. After catching up on what was going on with each other, we thought it would be nice to go to dinner and then to see a movie. We decided to go to an upscale restaurant and we dined on expensive cuisine that we couldn't even pronounce. We had such a great time talking and laughing at dinner that we never made it to the movie. After having our dinner and several glasses of wine, it was time to go. Kelly said that she had a lot of work to do that night. She offered to take me home, but I wanted to see a little more of the city. I'm sure it was the alcohol that motivated me to go exploring. I lived on the outskirts of the city and had such a hectic schedule that I never had many opportunities to walk around downtown. Tonight was such a beautiful night. There was a full moon and it had just stopped raining. The air was dewy sweet with moisture. I figured I would just walk around for a while and when I became tired I would flag down a taxi and head on home.

I bid goodbye to Kelly and we promised each other not to let so much time pass before we see each other again, and then we went our separate ways. I looked like a tourist as I walked around staring up at the buildings admiring the beautiful architecture. People were out enjoying themselves. Young lovers walked arm in arm sneaking little kisses here and there. Teenagers ducked into doorways to sneak a few puffs from their cigarettes and children enjoyed a night out with mom and dad. I truly love the opportunities where I can people watch. Everyone, no matter who they may be, has such interesting qualities and individuality. I even see it in newborn babies. I watch their facial expressions and hand movements and I wonder what they're thinking. They are thinking you know. Little minds hard at work.

It was getting quite late now and beginning to rain again, and I was noticing fewer and fewer people on the sidewalks and streets. I also noticed that the people I did see were far different then the ones I'd seen earlier. I had walked so far. I knew I was lost, but I didn't want to ask anyone for help. The people around me were prostitutes, bums or psychotic. I searched for my cell phone to call Kelly and then remembered I had left it at home on the charger. I didn't see a single taxi or even a bus in sight. I turned down an alley to at least get out of the rain. It was bad enough that I was lost and it had now become dark. As I walked a little further into the alley, I noticed a roaring fire. It was probably built by a poor homeless soul trying to dry off their rain soaked clothing. There was no one there at the moment and the warmth of the gold and orange flames seemed to put me at ease...for the moment anyway. I heard a loud jarring crash from behind me that caused me to spin around on my heels. It was only the lid to the dumpster slamming down from the baker tossing out some stale pastries. I was so hungry that I was momentarily tempted to dive into the dumpster for a donut or two. It seemed like it had only been an hour or so since I had eaten dinner, but I was starvingit had actually been 5 hours. Where did all the time go? No wonder the streets were filled with creatures of the night. It was 2:30 in the morning.

The only light now was the pearly white hue being cast down by a full moon. Street lights flickered in the distance and the fire raged on. After spending some time out of the rain and warming up alongside the fire, I actually felt calm and comfortable in my surroundingsuntil I heard a blood curdling scream.

It was a pained cry of a woman off in the distance. I stood frozen from terror. I honestly couldn't move. As each moment passed, the cries and whimpers became louder. The distressed woman was getting closer and closer. Still I couldn't move. My feet felt as if they were bolted to the cement. I stared down toward the end of the alley. The moon shone down upon the glistening bricks, and in the moonlight I could see the shadow of a figure creeping slowly along the ground. The sound of flesh scraping against the rough wet cement was like nails on a chalkboard to me. It was the woman who had screamed. This womanthis woman was covered in blood and used what little energy she had to plead with me to help her. I still couldn't move. What was wrong with me? She needed my help and I couldn't move! I had to move. I had to help her, or at least try. I composed myself and slowly walked toward her. The light from the moon cascaded across her body. I finally got to her and knelt down by her side. She had no energy left. She couldn't even lift her head. All she could do was say, "please help me." I could barely understand her. As she talked her speech was garbled, and with every word she uttered, blood poured from her mouth and slid across the rainy concrete. She wanted me to help her, but what could I do? I rolled her over on to her back to see what the extent of her injuries was. She had been stabbed several times. Her stomach was carved up like that of a piece of meat at a butchers shop.

I scanned her whole body, and noticed that she had on very provocative clothing. This woman was probably a prostitute. I assumed that her attacker must have been a pimp or one of her clients.

I continued scanning her body, and then I looked into her eyes. These weren't just any eyes. They were Kelly's eyes. This was my friend.

I started sobbing immediately and held her close to me. I felt weak and shaky. I couldn't believe this was happening. Through my tear filled eyes I could see Kelly using every bit of energy she had left to look up at me. Our eyes locked and I couldn't speak. It was Kelly that spoke. With her last breath she uttered the words, "I'm so sorry." She let out a deep sigh and then she died in my arms. I held her and rocked her like a baby. I looked up to the sky as if to ask for help from a higher power. Then, I heard footsteps.

I gently laid Kelly down and I was immediately on guard not knowing who, or what was approaching. With each step the shadow of a large figure crept closer and closer to me. I took off my shoes and ran as fast as I could and hid behind the dumpster. I peeked around the side to see a man come around the corner. He was dressed all in black. His skin appeared thick and leathery from years of smoking and drinking. He had a knife holster on the left side of his belt and a gun holster on the right. Each compartment contained its respective weapon. He slowly walked up to Kelly and dug his foot under her body to flip her over. He then said, "Good, she's dead. That's what the bitch gets for trying to keep money from me." My God, Kelly really was a prostitute, and this was obviously her pimp. I felt sick. How long had she been doing this? Why didn't she ask me for help? It was too late now though. Now I needed to worry about myself. As I was struggling to see around the dumpster, I accidentally dropped one of my shoes. It hit the ground with a thud and the sound caught the pimp's attention. He yelled out, "who's over there?" I was shaking. I was really shaking. Slowly he walked in my direction. There was nowhere I could go and nothing I could do but deal with whatever consequences that were about to befall me.

He slowly walked around the dumpster and saw me crumpled up in terror. My back was facing him and I was crouched into a ball. I turned my head and he saw my fear. He laughed at me. It was a sinister and demonic laugh. He asked me if I had seen anything. Of course my first instinct was to say no. Then he said, "Don't you fucking lie to me. Do you see that bitch over there?

That's what happens when someone lies to me." I then felt a dull pain in my back as if I'd been hit with a blunt object. He then disappeared. I felt very dizzy, but I was able to stand up. I wonder why he didn't do anything to me. Then I felt it. I felt the warm sticky liquid flowing down my back. I had been shot. The more I moved, the more I bled and the less energy I had. I used my last bit of strength to crawl over to Kelly and I laid down by her side, and then I went to sleep.

I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I became somewhat coherent, I realized I was in the back of an ambulance. The EMT's were trying to resuscitate me. I had two of them over me trying to help me. They were talking to each other. One of them said, "we couldn't save her friend, but we can save her." The other one said, "why bother, she'll just end up on the streets again in the same situation." I wanted to shout at them, "I'm not a prostitute!" Yet, all I could do was lay there.

Once at the hospital, they rushed me into the emergency room. Everything was happening so fast. All of these tubes and machines were being hooked up to me. The doctor came in and the nurses told him I was a hooker and that I had been shot in the back by my pimp or a john. It sickened me to hear these people say such horrible things about me. Is this really what goes on in the emergency room? Who were they to have these preconceived notions about me? I wanted to jump up off that table and shout at them and tell them how disrespectful they were being. Once again, all I could do was lay there.

I don't know how long I had been on that table, but it seemed like an eternity. The doctors were working so feverishly that the nurses had to wipe the perspiration from their foreheads. Then I heard a nurse say, "she's losing a lot of blood doctor." Then someone else said, "the bullet went completely through her body." I could hear all of this going on, yet I felt very much at peace. I suppose I should have been afraid, but I felt calm inside. I felt happy. Then, I felt weightless. I had left my body. I was dead.

I was dead and watching these fools try to bring me back to life. Look at all of them. Why do they keep trying? I couldn't watch any more of this. "I really am dead" I kept saying to myself. As odd as it may seem, it felt good. I was o.k. with it. I left my doctors and nurses in the room still trying to bring me back and I walked down the corridor of the hospital where I saw a woman and man sobbing. They were there because their daughter had been in a car accident. She was unconscious and bleeding very badly. The doctors told them they would do everything they could, but that they couldn't promise anything. I walked into the girl's operating room and stood above her. She truly looked like an angel. She had the same look on her face as I'm sure I had before I died. Then I saw her spirit rise up out of her body. She looked at me. She knew I was there. I told her that it wasn't her time yet. I took her hand and brought her out into the hall and showed her that she needed to be strong and to pull through this for her parents. She smiled at me as a small tear formed in the corner of her eye, and then her spirit returned to its shell.

I went back out into the hall and sat down next to the girl's mother. I held her hand and told her that her little girl was going to be just fine. The woman looked in my direction and then she turned to her husband and said, "did you hear that?" He slowly nodded his head and appeared confused. They both looked toward me and smiled through their tears. They couldn't see me, but they knew I was therethat something was there. Maybe I was their guardian angel. I knew it was now time for me to leave. I needed to go meet up with my friend Kelly. I couldn't wait; we have so much to talk about.