Holly swayed in the wind but was rooted to the spot. The movement-activated security light on the wall above and behind her beamed visibility into the nocturnal silence. The wind paused; she stood still; the light abruptly cut out.

A human figure slid soundlessly out of the darkness, carrying a vicious butcher’s knife. It faced Holly with evil intent; the wind sighed, Holly swayed, and the light shone briefly then died. The knife slickly sliced off her head. Her height was now below the light’s arc of sensitivity.

She never told her parents, Mr and Mrs Hock.

 

Holly the morning after the night before