Make the trip home on foot

No, she thought, I can’t do that. Even if he was heading straight by my house I would just be too exposed. There’s no way at least one person wouldn’t see me…

She looked back at the oak tree in the distance, the most direct path home would be to aim just left of the tree, right towards her street across the avenue. That tree was the only possible coverage she could, and poor coverage at that. If the traffic picked up a little, there was one branch of the oak low enough she might be able to climb it and hide in those branches, but she was far from certain she could actually get up on that limb.

Looking back at the truck, she saw Mr. Johnson heading back to the cab empty handed. He climbed back into his truck, closed the door and the vehicle started up before lumbering away, across the parking lot and back to the avenue.

Okay, so fifty or sixty yards to that oak, a quick glance around to make sure everything is clear then just bolt across the street. If it’s not clear, hide behind the tree until it is. And I anyone comes through the park behind me? Well… just pray they don’t.

She slipped off the branch she sat on and crawled under the low-lying limbs until she was as close to the oak as she could manage. Peering around the park one last time, she got out from under the limbs of the tree and started sprinting. She clamped her hands across her body once more and ran, looking around in a panic and praying that no one showed up while she was in the midst of this field. Her breathing sharpened as she tried to speed up as much as she possibly could. She felt her whole body working, her legs running hot. Her arm clinched against her chest stopped her breasts from moving, a slight bounce shaking through her exposed butt with each loping step. She reached the tree frantically, nearly crashing into it, slowing just enough to avoid injury and look up and down the avenue. It was miraculously deserted and Christina dashed past it, and into the road.

She saw her house, third on the left. The sidewalk ran the length of the street, with several parked cars lining the curb, nearly bumper to bumper. She knew she could hide behind them if a car came by. Looking to the right side of her street she saw the first house with no signs of activity, but the second house-

Shit!

Four people were on the door step, talking, two facing away from the house and two others facing them. She knew they were her neighbors, Jim and Linda who lived there, talking with two visitors she didn’t recognize.

Slightly squatting while she ran, Christina reached the far side of the avenue, got on the curb and ducked behind the first parked car. She glanced through one of the windows and saw they were still talking. Somehow they hadn’t noticed her fast streak across the avenue.

She stayed low and quickly moved to the second car, closer to home but also closer to her neighbors. She was directly in front of the first house, and scanned the windows, seeing no one. Raggedly catching her breath she creeped forwards and hid behind the third car.

Looking over the situation she saw that she had two more cars she could hide behind, and that would only get her halfway across the second house, where Mrs. Dawson lived. There was no way she could make that last run to her house without being seen.

Wait, Mrs. Dawson has that row of hedges lining the sidewalk. I could run behind them and that would get me right to the edge of my house.

Looking the angles over as best she could, Christina’s stomach dropped as she realized that her neighbors would likely have a clear view of the last ten yards she could have to cover before she could get to the side of her house. The front door was locked and Christina had left her keys in her now-stolen pants, but it would be out of the question anyway since that was an even longer run in front of everyone. The spare key was along the side of her house in a fake rock, part of a rock garden her parents kept.

She slinked forward one more car, the hedge row now immediately to her left. The edge was about a foot behind her and she felt she could get behind it without being seen if she stayed low. But that last ten yards…

If they leave soon or just go inside I could wait this out… But who knows how long that might be. Someone’s bound to come down to this sidewalk soon, either going for a walk or getting their mail… I need a distraction.

That Mustang in front of me, that Mrs. Dawson’s son’s car. He has a car alarm, it goes off sometimes for no real reason. If I can set it off maybe they’ll be distracted long enough for me to get past the hedges and into my back yard…

Christina inched forwards, the car she hid behind directly between her and the small gathering across the street. The concrete bit into her toes and balls of her feet while she moved. She reached the end of the car and leaned forwards. She didn’t think her arm would be visible to her neighbors if she touched the Mustang.

She planted her hands firmly on the front bumper and lurched her body forward to shake the car. Nothing. She tried again, and still got no result. Leaning back slightly, she pushed forward with her legs and rocked the car hard.

SCREE-ONK! SCREE-ONK!

Christina whirled in a 180 and scrambled back as quick as she could, staying low so her head couldn’t be seen through the windows of the car. The alarm would be drawing attention and they might come investigate if they saw her moving.

She reached the corner of the hedge and rounded it, allowing herself to stand and run across Mrs. Dawson’s yard half bent over. She tried to sprint as best she could, not gaining a lot of speed in this posture but enough that she hoped she could avoid being seen by Mrs. Dawson or her son when they came to the window to see what was going on.

Reaching the far end of the hedges she knew she had to keep moving. The distraction might not last for long and she realized she couldn’t be sure it held her neighbor’s attention this long. Turning slightly left Christina ran the few yards across the lawn to the edge of her house, then bolted for the gate to her backyard. The car alarm kept sounding as she pulled the wooden fence open, dipped inside and closed it behind her. She heard no shouting or anything unusual to indicate that anyone had seen her, but she might not be able to hear them over the sound of the car alarm.

Even if they saw, it wasn’t for more than a split second. If they never say a word to me about it I think I can live with that. That might be kind of a big ‘if” though...

In an effort to not be seen by her neighbors Christina had purposely not taken the extra second to grab the fake rock with her house key in it. But she felt safe in her back yard. The fences were high enough behind her and bordering Mrs. Dawson’s yard that no one could see her here unless they intentionally looked over the fence, and an alley ran directly behind the backyard so two fences kept anyone in the housing across the alley from seeing her.

So it’s a short waiting game until the coast is clear again, she thought. Sooner or later they’ll all go inside, or at least somewhere else. I can wait this out here, no problem.