What if the only person who can save you is the one everyone else ignores?
Pompt
He didn’t believe in omens, but the tremor in the homeless man’s voice sounded like a door cracking open to danger.
Al froze as the man’s fingers tightened briefly around his arm—stronger than he expected from someone so weathered and thin. “Be careful,” the man whispered, eyes shifting past Al’s shoulder. “You’re being followed.” Then he released him, calm as a monk, and settled back onto his cardboard throne as if nothing had happened.
Al turned slowly, scanning the alley, the sidewalk, the shifting blur of street traffic. Nothing. No shadows breaking from the wall, no footsteps out of sync with his. And yet… the feeling remained. That prickling sense along the spine that evolution built for survival. He’d been feeling it all day, like a low-frequency hum only his nerves could hear.
Maybe it was paranoia. Or maybe—just maybe—someone was waiting for the moment he relaxed.
He took a step. Then another. The city sounds stretched thin, as if the world were holding its breath.
Behind him, the homeless man made a quiet sound. A warning? A prayer? Or a goodbye?
Everything in Al’s life was suddenly divided into two parts: before that sentence… and after.
Reader Question
If a stranger warned you that someone was following you, would you dismiss it—or trust your instincts? What would your next move be?
Discover more from Optimistic Beacon
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
