Young Writers Society

Small wisps of my strawberry red hair flew around as a strong gust of wind flew through the air. I shivered and tightened my small thin jacket around me. My nose and ears were so frozen that they gave up trying to stay warm, my fingers and toes were numb from the cold and my teeth were chattering to no end. Wrapping my arms even tighter around me, I quickened my pace.

Downtown Gotham was not a good place to be. Too bad I lived there. I needed to hurry up and get back to the pile of junk I called home. Too bad my friends left me at the arcade. What great 'friends' they are. Now I have to walk all the way home. Tilting my head up slightly to glance at the sky, I realized it was getting dark. My eyes widened and I started to walk even faster down the cracked and dirty sidewalk. I would have ran home, but that would have caught some unwanted attention. If you know what I mean.

Hurry up, hurry up. I chanted over and over to myself in my head. I do not want to end up chopped up, shot, or raped tonight. So hurry your lazy butt up, Miss Emily Rose Hope! I reprimanded to myself. Usually I would have questioned and laughed at myself for thinking like that, but at the moment I was too terrified to even breathe.

I soon made it Harper Street. That was two streets down from my house. I stopped at the crosswalk and pushed the button that would let me walk across the street. Due to my ever freezing body, I started bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet to stay warm. Glancing at the walking sign, I realized it was still on stop. Groaning, I pressed the button a little harder. Looking at the sign again with hope, I noticed with dread that it was still on stop. My patience was wearing thin. Nervously, I glanced over my shoulder and checked my surroundings. There was no one in sight besides an old woman walking further down the street. I let out a sigh of relief, watching my breath turn white like a cloud of smoke in the air.

Man, it was cold outside. I hate January. It was the coldest month of the year. I didn't have any proper clothing for this kind of weather, just this thin, hand-me-down jacket. I glanced back at the walking sign. It was again still on stop. Growling in irritation, I looked both ways down the street and decided to take my chances. As I was about to break the law and jaywalk, a large rough hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

"I wouldn't do that Miss. My, my, you're a very pretty little lady."

I stiffened. Don't turn around. Just run. The rational side of me thought. But, alas, my body, wanting to see who grabbed me, turned itself around. My heart rate increased dramatically . The person behind me wore a long black trench coat that was frayed slightly at the sleeves and collar. He also wore a black fedora. It was slightly tipped forward, so I couldn't see his face.

My left foot shifted behind me as I was getting ready to make a break for it. The man, unfortunately, noticed my slight movement and grabbed me roughly by the arm. My heart rate was off the charts by now. I was terrified. As I stood still as a statue, not knowing what to do, the man used his free hand to grab his fedora and slowly take it off his head.

My heart stopped. The man in front of me was wearing a mask, but not just any mask. The mask was white, red, purple, black, and green. What? You haven't guessed what kind of mask it was yet? Well it was a clown mask. And when you see or think of a clown, what do you think of? The circus? Nope. Well not for me, anyway. When you grow up in a place like Gotham, especially Downtown Gotham, you have to know some things. Like you should know that the guy wearing the clown mask in front of you works for the Joker!

Silently screaming inside, I knew I was screwed. Royally flipping screwed. That goon had connections.

"What do-o-o you wa-a-nt?" I stuttered. This man was trained to kill. I don't want to end up dead on the streets of Gotham.

The man gave a deep and dark chuckle. He said one word. A word that chilled me to the core. A word that made me wish death would strike me down right this very moment.

"Pleasure." The man simply said in a scratchy voice. He grinned a Cheshire grin and started to drag me to an empty alleyway. I started clawing at his hand with my free hand while screaming for help.

"HELP ME!! PLEASE, HELP ME!!" I screamed.

It was no use though. No one was going to help me. The people that live in this city are too scared to even walk outside their houses due to the nasty and cruel criminals that lurk the streets.

I was desperate now. I was now in the alleyway. The man pushed me up against the grimy brick wall and took his mask off.

I gasped softly so the goon couldn't hear me. The man's face was scarred so badly, I started to feel pity for him. But then I thought of how he was going to rape me, and all those thoughts disappeared. Instead, all I saw was red. I started kicking and screaming now. I felt a sting on my left cheek as my head flew sideways to the right. Ow.

"Will you shut up?!" The man hissed calmly and quietly.

I was too angry to care about the situation I was in as I calmly asked, "How about you say please?" I smirked. The man's face got redder than a tomato and the smirk fell off my face.

"That was a mistake, princess. You probably won't live to see another day now." My man now was the one smirking. My eyes widened as he said that.

As I stood, or rather hung, against the hard brick wall, I thought about my friends, family, and my future. I didn't want it to end, especially like this. So I made a decision. I screamed a name that even hardened criminals feared. A name people loved and hated. A name I adored and looked up to.

"BATMAN!!! Save me!!"

The goon stilled and his eyes widened. He dropped me and looked around looking for the Batman. Given the chance to escape, I ran like my life depended on it. Which it did, in fact.

As I made it back to the stupid crosswalk, a smash came from the dark and empty alleyway where Joker's goon was. Being the curious and irrational girl I am, I slowly approached the alleyway and peered around the corner. I gasped. It was completely dark out now, but I could clearly see the outline of a man leaning over the sicko who was going to rape and kill me. A man who had the outline of two pointy ears on the top of his head. A man otherwise known as the Batman.

Batman turned towards me and looked at me for a few seconds. Then without warning, he threw down a smoke pellet and disappeared into the night. As I choked and coughed, I giggled like a giddy schoolgirl.

I MET the Batman. THE BATMAN! I was ecstatic.

After my coughing fit, I wrapped my arms around my body and ran back home. When I reached my destination, I ripped the door open to my rickety old house, I locked the door and ran up the stairs, tripping and falling over myself.

Opening my bedroom door, I walked inside my small purple room, and silently shut my door. I ripped off my dirty old converse and threw my dingy jacket onto a nearby chair. I ran up to my bed and collapsed. Flipping myself over, I stared at my Batman and Robin poster on my ceiling. I mentally sighed thinking how awesome superheroes are. Then I facepalmed myself. I could have got a picture with him or something! Like seriously! Batman and I could have gotten a selfie together! Man, I was angry. I shut my eyes and self pitied myself for a few minutes. Soon, my pointer finger lifted itself in the air and I smiled showing off my pearly whites.

"Light bulb!" I announced with a never fading smile.

I was going to see the Batman again. This time I'll actually meet him. A devious smile crawled up slowly on my face. I'm going to meet him the same way other damsels in distress do. I was going to do something incredibly stupid. Something that could get me injured or worse.

I was going to get captured by the Joker.