In short minutes, the ashes are gathered, my bags are packed, and I'm already on my way down the mountain to my car. I should probably tell the old lady I'm heading out...

Oh, never mind.

Heading west on I-40 to Albuquerque, my mind is lost in sadness and I'm swerving all over the road. “She's not really gone, is she Dorothy?” I ask. “She really is gone, sir, I'm sorry I must keep informing you. But Danny, please do pay attention to your driving,” Dorothy instructs.

I'm pushing my Integra to its limits, roaring south down the empty streets. Some unseen force is inviting me this way. This isn't the greatest neighborhood, but I feel like running. So I park my car, and my feet take off automatically towards a lone streetlight in the distance.

This can't be smart

I’m running through a dark neighborhood dressed in a silver trench coat and hat. I stick out like a sore thumb, going down the deserted street.

The streetlight gets closer with each stride, and I find a mother and her child being attacked in the shadows by a man dressed in black, and wearing a cheap mask.

Could this be him?

“Dorothy, I have to do something!” I explained as my veins fill with aggression. “Danny, it is not your job to interfere with the problems of everyday citizens. Your fight is not with this man,” Dorothy says as she tries to talk some sense into me.

It was too late. As adrenaline takes over, I feel as if I'm running faster than I ever had. Before I knew it I was on top of the masked man.

I can’t imagine a child growing up without a mother

I pull him off the woman, and render him motionless on the ground besides the mother's car. Terrified yet relieved, the lady looked up to meet my eyes. She nods and says hesitantly, “Th... Thank.. You.” Then quickly loads up her child and drives off into the night.

Now I only feel worse; I decide to leave the man lying there in hopes the police will pick him up. Something feels off. My anger is still there. Thought it wouldn’t be there after I felt the man’s ribs break beneath my fists. I can feel a shift in the energy all around me, and my stomach drops.

I shouldn’t have done that.

“That was wrong of me, Dorothy,” I say.

“Whether it was right or wrong, what’s done is done, Danny. No use in placing judgement on it. We just keep moving forward.”

“What have I done?”

“You may have disrupted a balance, but it’s nothing we can’t deal