“Weird people come out at night” my father used to say in his gentle kind voice. “Dangerous people come out pumpkin and you do not want to meet them ok?” my father repeated softly. I nodded my head every time but for some reason it never stuck. Never ever did. Maybe if I listened to him I would be in school today.

It was a cold summers Eve and I was walking home from my best friend Jessica’s hou...

‘Tick-tock-tick’ went the clock. I was already paranoid enough walking through the erie subway alone. “Where is everyone..?” I whispered to myself quietly. I stopped for a moment and glanced around. Did I take a wrong turn? No.. I couldn’t have. All I could hear was the ticking of the clock and my footsteps as I continued down the subway halls. Suddenly another set of footsteps came into the hall....

Rain slicked the pavement, turning the city’s neon signs into trembling puddles of color.

Mara pulled her jacket tight and checked her phone again — 12:47 a.m. No new messages. The bar had emptied an hour ago, and her friends were already in cabs, their goodbyes quick and hazy. She told them she’d walk. It was only ten blocks.

Halfway home, the streetlights started flickering — first one, then an...

I heard all the warnings from everyone for months.

“Don’t walk down dark streets!” , “Carry protection with you always!” , “Never walk after dark!”, “Don’t walk home alone!”

I shake my head and laugh to myself, don’t walk home alone? How was I supposed to find someone to walk me home from work every single evening? They were all just crazy old folks who never dared leave that dusty small town. ...

‘Don’t walk home alone’ we’re told. ‘Don’t walk alone at night’ they say. But what could they think could really go wrong? So today, I stray away from my friends, and I walk the path to my house by myself. Everything is going fine until a figure appears from behind.

He grabs me by the neck, and throws me on the cement. I cry out for help, but it falls on deaf ears, and I’m already halfway to deat...

In 1953, I lost everything in a rigged poker game in Mairi, Seoul. On the side of the street, I watched the thief, a Dr. Farci, walk off with my money and use it at the nearest whorehouse. He stayed there a good long time. When he left, a group of American Servicemen in an Army issued Jeep rolled off with him. They headed back to the war, and I was left to lick my wounds as a penniless hobo on the...

We know the rules. From a young age, we’re told to be aware of our surroundings. Don’t create attention to yourself. Watch what you wearing. Don’t be too loud. Don’t drink too much. Be polite. Bite your tonuge. Hold your tongue. Bite your tongue. Hold your tongue.

And never walk home alone.

Has my body ever really been mine?

Pull hair.

Smack ass.

Grip arm.

Touch thigh.

Whispers.

“Shh”

Bit...

You never know what roams the streets of this city.

It hides in the night and the mist and the fog. It disappears in the foliage of crooked alleyways and senseless dead-end streets, and it is forgotten amidst the crowds of passersby who do their best to forget that there is strength in numbers.

The clicking of solitary heels against the pavement disrupts the stillness.

It is not night, but t...

My mother, Barbara loves to tag me in all these social media posts about girls being attacked—or worse. As long as all of her friends can see her being a ‘good mom’ then all is right in the world. Her world anyway.

My world has always been lonley. The truth is, I have only ever known saftey in solitude. My mother never knew where I was or what I was doing. She didn’t notice when I would stay in m...

It's raining tonight, makes it hard for people to see the person that could be lurking in the shadows waiting to jump out and attack. The streets are getting dangerous especially for young girls to walk home. I pick up my pace hoping the splashes beneath my feet don't alert anyone close by. I keep my eyes ahead and carefully side eye all the shadows in between each building and alley. A bolt of li...