Cut by Shadows

She ran, ran as fast as her legs would carry her, down the long winding alleyway, dodging puddles, cobbles slippery underfoot. The street lights casting an eerie yellow light, cut by shadows that blur in the tears streaming down her sunken cheeks. She fell against the old red brick wall, its crumbling surface scrawled with the brightly colored daubs of smalltown wannabe graffiti artists. Broken glass and cans litter the ground around her feet. She rests her forehead on the wet brick, the fine rain soaking through her thin grey dress. She hears his voice in the distance, a note of panic in his usually calm voice "Carol, Carol, don't be stupid, come home".