Barrage

The autumn wind cut the skin. The sound of heels, splashes. Your heart was pounding wildly with panic. You were being pursued by a shadow.

In the distance – a police station, hope for salvation and a trap: you could get five years for drug trafficking.

A policeman came out of the station. Seeing the running woman, he hurried to meet her. The pursuer disappeared.

“Are you okay?” a hoarse voice. You clutched your bag, afraid to look up. He could recognize you, the elusive drug dealer.

“Let’s go to the station. Do you know the pursuer?” the policeman put his hand on your shoulder, trying to look into your eyes.

The icy wind, like sharp needles, pricked the skin, piercing to the bones: autumn had come into its own. The clear click of heels cut through the wet surface of the asphalt, exploding with fleeting sparks of splashes. The heart pounded in frenzy, driven by a wave of panic. An invisible shadow crept closer, keeping an ominous distance. In the distance, like a lighthouse in a raging sea, a ray of hope flickered - the police station. The temptation was enormous, it seemed that here it was - a quick escape from pursuit. But behind this door there was an abyss. To enter there meant not only to surrender, but also to bury yourself alive for five long years, paying for the sins of drug trafficking. And before the thought had time to take shape into a decision, a figure in an impeccably ironed uniform emerged from the doors of the station. The man, casting a careful glance around the street, noticed a running, gasping woman and, like a true guardian of the law, hurried to meet her. In the blink of an eye, he was next to her, and the pursuer, as if dissolving in the autumn twilight, disappeared without a trace.

“Are you all right, lady?” the officer’s hoarse voice, as if saturated with autumn dampness, broke through the veil of enveloping fear. You convulsively clutched your bag in your palms, not daring to raise your eyes to the guardian of the law: he could recognize you, the elusive drug dealer everyone had been looking for for so long.

“Please come with me to the station to file a report. Do you know the person who was following you?” the man continued, putting his heavy hand on your shoulder and trying to look into your eyes.