“A young lady like you should not be out alone at this hour,” he said.
The young woman appeared to be shy for she kept her face hidden and did not reply.
The policeman persisted. “Would you like a lift home on my bicycle?” he asked.
The woman continued walking and said nothing. Her attitude made him more determined.
“Come now, lady,” he urged. “Surely you don’t believe I would harm you. Just tell me where you live and I will see you home safely.”
The woman stopped and shyly said, “It’s not far from here but if you insist I will go with you.”
She was hoisted on the cross bar and they set off pleasantly enough. The policeman was teasing and joking, and though the woman was laughing merrily she hardly said a word. They had not gone very far when the policeman found that he could not turn the pedals as easily as before, yet the road was quite flat. He thought to himself, “She was as light as a bundle of feathers when we started off. Now she is dead weight.” He began to feel uneasy as he remembered he had not seen her face.
“Lady, you didn’t tell me where you live,” he said.
“Just a little way to go. Keep straight on,” she replied with a strange laugh.
After a few seconds passed with no more directions, he asked, “Lady, how much further?”
Her reply was the same as before, “Just a little way to go. Keep straight on."
The policeman was labouring with the load he carried. He felt as though his lungs were bursting and fear seeped through every pore of his skin as he recalled that there were no houses ahead of them. He was heading for a part of the town where the only buildings were warehouses. Beyond them lay the open sea…
Paste your story endings as a comment on this post then read everybody else's endings and write another comment explaining which one you think is best and why.
