Stalked

It seemed he had been part of her life forever
She closed her eyes, she could see him
All dressed in black
Black shoes, trousers, jacket with hood
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

Every morning she’d open the kitchen blinds
There he’d be, just across the street
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

She’d be driving to work
She didn’t need to look behind
She knew he’d be following her
She’d come to recognize
The black four door saloon
She imagined him, sitting there
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, sitting perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

Her work was starting to suffer
Her boss had warned her twice already
But, how could she concentrate on work?
When everytime she looked through the office window
There he was, just across the car park
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

Night time was the worst of times
She hadn’t fallen into deep sleep for weeks
Knowing full well, that just outside
There he would be, just across the street
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

The police could not help her
What could they charge him with?
He hadn’t threatened her
Harmed her, not physically anyway
He wasn’t breaking any laws
Being in a public place
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

She went to visit her elderly mother, he was there
She’d go visit the graveside of her late father, he’d be there
In the supermarket, he was there
Everywhere, anywhere she chose to go, he’d be there
Always dressed in black
Always unmoving, always standing perfectly still
Always staring straight ahead
Always keeping his distance and yet
Always seemingly growing ever near

It all ended for her one Friday morning
As she locked the front door to leave for work
Suddenly there was a tightness around her throat
It was a man’s belt, a man’s black belt
She didn’t need to see her assailant
She could imagine him, standing behind her
Dressed all in black
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
As he slowly stole the final breaths from her.
A calmness overcame her
An almost euphoric rush, as she thought
“At last I am free of him,
At last it is all over”
They were her final thoughts
As she slipped into eternal darkness

On Monday morning, a young single mother
Was dropping her children off at school
As she pulled away in her car, she saw him
Standing at the school gates
A strange looking man
Dressed all in black
Black shoes, trousers, jacket with hood
Unmoving, standing perfectly still
Staring straight ahead
Keeping his distance and yet
Seemingly growing ever near

An ice-cold chill ran down her spine
“She wouldn’t want to see that man again”
She thought to herself.
Of course, she would do, and often
And for the rest of her life
Or at the very least,
For what little remained of it

©Gary Wayne Hill, 2019