That faint shining light in the distance signaled the last signs of daytime. Soon I would dive into the darkness that encompassed the night. Those purple and pink hues blended with the blues and yellows like a Van Gogh painting, illuminating the sky into a canvas already painted with my mind. It was a piece of art with no owner. Like a song without an artist, it mastered its own beauty.

I was walking on the asphalt now in my dress shoes, trying to get home from that concert at school. Normally, I wouldn’t be the only one walking back alone in semi darkness. But my family had gone off ahead after I had forgotten something in the car. I knew my way back…I think.

I stopped mid step, my dress flowing forward because of the pace of the wind picking up around me. My feet were glued together, sitting there in a stand still. There was something out there. Something besides me. Please let it not be something that would possibly kill me.

I jumped again before I could even take the step forward, looking to the right where a noise had come from. A dark four-legged figure sprinted off in the distance and I just sat there, looking like an idiot. Wow that totally makes you look even cooler. Not.

Painful blisters were forming on my ankles as I kept walking. It was like they were screaming at me to take my blasted heels off. So I did. I couldn’t pass up an excuse to walk barefoot.

My hands now held my well-worn black heels and my feet made no noise against the ground. It made me feel like Sherlock Holmes, sneaking into a house to investigate a crime scene. Or a modern day Nancy Drew, snooping around trying to figure out the mystery before it was too late. In short, I felt kind of badass wearing all black and walking around in now pitch black night.

A light was visible in the distance, nearly making it seem clear to me that I was almost there. Well, I was. My family was there and waiting for me, probably wondering what I was doing all this time. I was alone in completely black surroundings now because my driveway is too freaking long.

Snap! The sound of a twig cracking startled me. I covered my mouth to keep the scream that was building inside from breaking out into clean air. If it was someone out there, I couldn’t scream. They would know where I was.

More noises from the left now startled me. I shut my eyes tight. I had to get a glimpse of what it was at least. Just to see. Just so I knew what was out there, making all those noises and scaring the crap out of me. I hated not knowing.

One, two, three! I opened my eyes to see a figure moving swiftly through the woods towards the main road. My eyes widened to the size of golf balls. It wasn’t a deer at all. My sight wandered down to his hands. A lengthy black object frightened me even more. That was a gun. No one could lie to me and say it was anything else. No one on earth could fool me now.

My focus went to running towards the light in the faraway view. I had to get to the house before they could catch me. In plain sight, that would be hard. Trying to master up a plan to escape wasn’t working while I was sprinting through the woods. There was no way I could just sprint through when they would obviously see me clearly.

Something cold and dry grabbed my wrist, making me shriek in fear. No need to turn around now. I knew it was the end. My eyes shut as fast as they could, my breathing picked up and I tried to free myself. I stumbled forward to the dirt ground from being jerked back by the intruder.
What would a real detective do? Was my death unavoidable now? Nancy Drew wouldn’t have been as freaked out as I was. I was shaking, even when I was trying to free myself. Sherlock Holmes would have been able to struggle out, running for the hills in hopes of hiding away from the enemy. But I was no Nancy Drew. I wasn’t even half of what Sherlock Holmes was.

The tension on my wrist freed. I scrambled to my feet. My vision was still blurred by tears that were welled up from the scare.

“Scott?! What the hell?” My brother turned on the flashlight and aimed it down to the ground. I exhaled and brushed myself off, taking a good look at the smirk on his face.

“You should have seen the look on your face! You were completely freaked out!” He was chuckling now and I felt color rushing to my cheeks.

“Scott, that was mean. I’m going home now.” He smiled trying not to believe what I had said. I turned, my back facing him, and started to walk through the trees in our yard.

“Wait, Claire, that was a joke,” my brother pleaded as he jogged to keep up with my quick pace. I turned and sighed to him.

“Whatever, let’s just get home okay?” My brother nodded, satisfied with his tactful scare. As we walked back to our house, both of us were prepared for the lecture of a lifetime.