• Roxane saw out of the corner of her eye that the sun was farther beneath the horizon. She looked ahead of her to see the end of the forest and thanked god she was almost to the gates of her safe haven-town. She thought of how the town gatekeeper (named Tom) would be strolling casually down the street from his house to the town gate to be locking it soon.
    She knew Tom-the-gatekeeper well; they had gone to grade school together. They had been close friends all their lives, but nothing more because Roxane had been in love with whom was currently her husband, since she first met him. Tom was a content guy and a good friend, and Roxane knew he was a good father and husband to his own family. She even babysat his kids once when they were little.
    But now she longed for him to let her in and immediately lock the town gates behind her, therefore locking out her pursuer because he never, for whatever reason, messed with a locked gate, door, etc. She heard the eventual whisper from behind her and knew she was still being chased.
    Finally she reached the end of the forest and saw the town gate in front of her. Roxane spotted Tom almost at the gate, and realized that the sun was nearly set. She ran faster despite her lack of energy.
    "Tom, please wait!" She screamed. Tom, having been content in his slow stroll and whistling, was startled out of his walking and looked up to see his lifelong friend running. He held the gate open as she ran into the safety of the town, stopping and breathing heavily.
    "Hurry, lock the gate!" Roxane said in a panicked voice. Tom did as he was told and locked the gate, just as the sun finished setting over the lake.
    "Rox, what happened?" Tom asked. Roxane was still catching her breath.
    "I..." She breathed, "It's a long story..." Tom walked his exhausted friend home.
    Once Roxane was safely at her front door and had finally caught her breath, she opened her door and walked in, observing her child in her husband's arms on the living room couch. He noticed his wife's tired expression.
    "What happened to you, Roxy?" He asked in a concerned tone. Roxane removed her muddy boots and set them on her front porch. She'd clean them off after she cleaned the mud off of her pants.
    "Barry..." She scooped up Justin into her arms to take him upstairs to bed. Her husband, following behind her, knew what she meant. They tucked their baby in together after Roxane changed him into pajamas and sang him a lullaby as Roxane rocked his crib back and forth. Their voices didn't exactly harmonize, but for the little baby it was magical and soothing.
    Soon enough he was fast asleep, so Roxane and her husband left the baby's room and Roxane went to change pants and clean the mud off. She was also asked about what happened throughout the day to make her return home muddy and tired.
    "Well like I said when I left this morning, I went to go visit my sister for the day, and we went out to lunch. But on our way home...he was watching us."