Isabelle burst out of the apartment door and sprinted down the sidewalk towards Rendolph Park. Three blocks later she was gasping for breath and into the trees.
She stumbled over tree roots and thorns cut at her jeans, but she kept pushing forward. She didn’t even realize how far she’d gone until she was at a clearing. This has never been here before… Isabelle thought. It was strange. Now she thought about it, the whole thing was strange. She had been running for at least an hour and at a break neck pace. No way she was still in the woods. Rendolph Park was a small place, and Isabelle had been all over it. She couldn’t possibly still be in the trees. Yet she was. Strange.
Isabelle heard a rustle at the edge of the clearing and she tensed. She didn’t think there were wild animals in Rendolph Park but for all she knew a huge bear could be ten yards away. A dark shape leapt out of the trees and Isabelle stifled a scream.