We never think of ourselves as vulnerable. As we walk from the Midtown Deli to our cars, we rarely looked down that darkened alley. That type of thing happens to others. We are invisible to crooks and robbers, so we turn our heads and pretend the alley doesn't exist. The dark recesses of the alley hide the seamier side of life. Denizens, whose only mission is to exalt themselves and lay to waste the lives of innocents, crouch in the shadows. But they do not wait for us. They wait for some other hapless soul who breaks the rule and stares down the long corridor between buildings. That is what we think.
But, then suddenly a hand juts out from the darkness. As a chicken hawk swoops down on its innocent prey, the hand grabs from off the street an innocent. An innocent who was just walking to the car to make the trip to hearth and home. One whose only goal was the safety of metal and rubber that would deliver them to the true safety of hearth and home. But the hand is the hand of fate and other destinies have been chosen for our dear innocent. The hand grabs and pulls roughly, gathering the prey into the dark bowels of the alley. Other hands appear, grasping and grabbing, tugging and tearing. Clothes rip and a package flies. The innocent is dragged away, into the deepest and darkest part of the city cavern.
Looking into the face of the wolves, the lamb trembles. On the street, no one would suspect there were ever fear in the trusting little lamb. But here, deep inside an evil lair, the lamb shakes. The wolves bare their fangs and growl, uttering animalistic noises. An evil gleam shines in the eyes of the tormentor. Toy with the prey before you move in for the kill. Make the lamb tremble and cajole. Perhaps by talking in a soft tone of voice, the innocent might convince the wild ones that the innocent is not a part of their plans. Talking human to human will touch their innermost sensitivity and they will release the lamb unharmed. But it is a myth, for true evil hears nothing that is uttered from innocent lips.
They circle, like vultures above a near dead, frail deer. The deer looks up, for now it crouches in the midst of sure and certain doom. Perhaps they will release the deer if the deer will only beg. Perhaps on bended knee the deer can make a case for leaving it to the destiny it had planned. Plead with evil. Hands folded in a stance of pray. But evil reviles prayer. A hand lashes out and the innocent cringes. A wound, no blood, but a wound nonetheless. No one has raised a hand to the innocent before. No one has dared to harm the fair-haired one. But harm is imminent this bleak and dismal evening.
Coverings are rent, ripped and torn. The innocent kneels before the captors in shreds. A hand reaches out and grabs hair. A head is turned upward. Eyes glare the message to look upward to the stronger and give sway to the evil ones. No resolve can hold in the presence of such cruel eyes. The innocent must give them their way. Perhaps by giving evil what it wants, the lamb can limp away to soothe the wounds and live.