I SEARCH THE NIGHT By Ethan Gray I step through the night, darkness draped about me like a cloak. The night and I are old lovers who have shared much of our lives together and long ago given up the pretense of coyness. I step through the night in search of her. I have seen her only once in a dream and it was so long ago but I will know her when I find her. I search the night for I know she is out there and I will find her, I will find her tonight, for tonight she waits for me. I walk the streets, a cold mist seems to cling to the air and blunts the illumination of the streetlights giving the world a fuzzy haze. As I walk a hear a soft gasp and then a nearly silent scream. I find the alley and with soft and quite footsteps I quickly move deeper into the shadows following the sounds. I see a woman, but it is not her, two men are standing over her as she lays on the ground. The woman is filled with fear and a sense of triumph glints on the faces of the men. I confront them, the two men turn to face me. I can now smell the fear that clings to them. I see the sweet on their faces, they are ruled by hate and fear.