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lot more efficiently; that is until midweek.  By Wednesday morning reports are all over the news lines.  There has been another animal attack.  That makes three fatal animal attacks that have been reported, including Dylan’s death.  Anna-Marie almost chokes on her coffee when she opens up the company-wide e-mail from work. 
     
    “On Tuesday night, a young single mother of two was on her way to the babysitter’s house to pick up her kids after leaving work at a local restaurant, but never showed up.  She left work around nine o’clock.  No one recalled seeing her between the restaurant and the sitter’s house.  In the late hours of Wednesday morning her mutilated body was found a few blocks from the restaurant.”
     
    “Oh my goodness, that’s so sad.”  Anna-Marie begins to cry for the loss of this stranger.  The mother of two small children who will never be able to tuck them in bed and kiss them goodnight ever again.  It’s just so tragic, Anna-Marie knows first hand.  This tragedy will no doubt affect everyone who knew and cared about this woman.  Life is so unfair sometimes.
     
    ***
     
    Before she knows it Friday has finally arrived.  Her usual glee for the day has faltered, because this Friday is different.  All week Anna-Marie has tried, but failed, to forget about that creepy man she encountered the last time she was at the cemetery. 
    She has been pacing in her living room while battling bouts of anxiety all day, as she tries to decide what to do. 
    “It’s Friday dammit!  I have to go!” Anna-Marie yells at herself.  “Oh, but what if he is still there?”
    She stops pacing as a chill runs down her back with the thought of that night.  She sits back down on the couch and begins to cry. 
    “Screw it!” She yells and stands back up.  “Who cares if he’s there?  It’s light out and I’m sure there will be other people there.  Surely he wouldn’t assault me again, not in public.”  Before she can think about it anymore, she grabs her purse and rushes out of the door.
     
    Once Anna-Marie arrives to visit Dylan, she scans the grounds before she gets out of the car.  She notices a few people in various states of mourning, scattered around the cemetery.  She parks her car as close as she can to Dylan’s grave for an easy get away if need be.
    “Okay Anna-Marie, the coast is clear.  You can do this.”
    She takes a deep breath and heads to Dylan’s grave. 
    “Hey, Dylan!  How was your week?” Anna-Marie says in a rush.  She pauses as if she’s waiting for an answer that she knows will never come. “Mine has been miserable.  Honestly, I don’t know what happened last week,” she says nervously.
    She continues to observe the grounds, paying close attention to every little sound.  She feels so exposed standing here in the open.  She sits down on the ground in front of Dylan’s headstone.  It’s kind of disturbing to her to think that she is probably sitting on his head.  She laughs out loud hysterically at the thought. 
    “Oh my Go d Dylan!  I think I need to have my head examined.”  She laughs out loud again.
    “Mama came for a visit Sunday.  Well , really she came to babysit me, and at first I was annoyed at the intrusion, but to be honest I ended up enjoying the company.  She had reminded me that Edgar and Stacy got married a few months ago.  I had completely forgotten about it.”
    Anna -Marie pauses for a few minutes and chews on her lower lip.  She is nervous to speak out loud the news she has been hearing about the latest attack.  It brings back too many hard memories of the night he died, but she feels the need to share it with him.
    “There has been another fatal animal attack this week.  This time it was a young mother on her way home from work.  It’s getting really strange.  There doesn’t seem to be any kind of connection as far as I can tell , but it has to be the same animal.  No one even knows what this animal is.  It