he rather hastily pushed the woman away from him and turned his full attention to me. She put her hands to her neck, looked at him then disappeared into the alley.

He was staring at me in a way that should have scared me to death, but didn't. He started walking toward me, slowly. He had something dark dripping from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his hand as he drew near. I stood, rooted to my spot.

He stopped about three feet in front of me and squatted down to look me in the eye. He seemed to be looking for something. I'm not sure if he found what he was looking for or not. Finally, he spoke.

His voice was soft but kind of raspy. What are you doing out here alone? Is your mommy or daddy around?

I nodded. Momma's in the store talking to a lady.

Ok, come on. It's not safe for such a pretty little girl to be out here alone. He stood up and reached for my hand. I put my small hand into his, and felt completely safe. His hand was cold, and I thought that was a little strange because it was so warm out. We walked around to the open door of the store.

Go on, get inside and find your mom. I looked up at him, wanting to remember what he looked like. I liked him. His dark hair brushed lightly on his shoulders. He had a pretty good 5 o'clock shadow going, a mustache and what I would later learn was a very small goatee.

Mom was still standing right where I'd left her. She looked over then, and saw us standing just outside the open door. She must have been terrified because all the color drained from her face. Lillian! You come back in here this instant! She bolted toward the door.

Her yell attracted the attention of the gruff, balding man behind the counter. Hey you, bring the kid in here.

He dropped my hand and followed me inside. Mom grabbed me and hugged me, then grabbed me by the shoulders. What's the matter with you, young lady? Why did you leave the store?

I'm tired. I want to go home.

Michael spoke then. She's ok. I was passing by and saw her in the parking lot, alone. I thought I better see to it that she got back to her mom.

"Well, thank you, Mr?

Michael. It's just Michael. He looked down at me and I could see the secret we shared rolling around behind his eyes. You be a good girl and stay out of dark, empty parking lots from now on. Promise?

I was thrilled that he felt me trustworthy of keeping his secret, and nodded, a huge smile plastered across my face.

Good, he said, then turned

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