An old woman walked down the street; it was late at night. She had been out to the grocery store for some celery. Unfortunately, they were out of celery, so she returned home empty- handed.

It was unusually dark that night, clouds had rolled in blocking out the moon, and a storm was coming. She continued down the street, still quite a way from her home. The street was empty.

As she walked, using her cane to support herself, she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around. She found that no one was behind her. Continuing on her way home, they stepping noises picked up again. Even with her bad hearing, they were very obvious to her. Turing around again, more quickly, she still found nothing behind or around her. She quickened her pace, as much as her old legs would let her, hoping to get home quickly.

She turned down the next street, only three blocks to go. Still hearing the steps, she just continued walking, trying to ignore them. Perhaps they were only her imagination. About half way down the street, a bush rustled nearby. She raised her cane in defense, but only a small cat jumped out. She sighed in relief. She looked down at the cat. It was mostly brown, though calico cat. She reached down to pet it.

Though she tried to leave, the cat followed her down the second street. After a few minutes, she began to hear footsteps, stepping quicker this time as she sped up a little more. Aside from the steps she heard and the sound of the night, the cat that had been following her had been meowing. But about a third of the way down the street, she suddenly noticed that it had stopped. She turned around to find that the cat was no longer behind her. Unsure of its whereabouts, she walked even faster. Only one more street to go…..

As she turned down the last street, she distinctly heard the steps behind her move quicker. Almost to a run though her old body could no longer allowed her to run. She was about halfway down the street, only a few houses down. Suddenly, she heard a crash and quickly spun around. A trash can that had been on the curb had fallen.

In full panic, she walked up the path, to her home, still hearing the steps. She quickly unlocked the door, and got inside. She stopped and put her ear to the door but could not hear the footsteps. She sat worryingly in her bed all night till' morning…..