"Pain, Pain, go away,
Let me smile for just one day,
Should that day I never see,
Let my blood run cold and free."

As he walked past the singing girl, David smiled; the song brought back memories of primary school. He walked on a little further down the street towards the bus stop and only then did he realise the lyrics of that old song were not sweet at all. Trying to decide whether he should return to the young girl or carry on towards where the bus would soon be waiting was no problem at all, he, as most people would, carried on and ignored that stupid song.

"Pain, Pain, go away,
Let me smile for just one day,
Should that day I never see,
Let my blood run cold and free."

Once again the girl sat on the wall singing to herself as David passed. This time he looked at her, she wasn't a small child as he had suspected but a girl in her mid-teens with a soft, high voice. She had dark brown hair and was dressed all in black. She wore black, worn jeans, a t-shirt with some rock band that played satanic music which David had never listened to but knew it was crap, and on top of that a jacket of black crushed-velvet. She was very attractive but looked thinner than seemed healthy and her skin was very pale. She wore a lot of makeup, all of which was black, black lipstick, black mascara and eyeliner. She had her nose pierced; the small crystal was subtle and suited her.

Again, David wondered whether he should speak with her but there was no point, what could he say to help? What could he do? Nothing, and he didn't care. He didn't even know the girl.

Again, he walked past her on toward the bus stop.

"Pain, Pain, go away,
Let me smile for just one day,
Should that day I never see,
Let my blood run cold and free."

David walked down the street again; it was very warm today. Summer was just around the corner and the sky was clear of clouds, the sun beamed down upon him and warmed his skin.

As he passed the wall where the girl sat he saw that she was situated in the only shadow on the street. She hadn't sat there deliberately, it was the place where she always sat but for some reason it was the only spot on the entire street, which wasn't bathed in light. As if the shadows were huddled around her like a shell, engulfing her, her only company.

On this day, the warmth reached even into the shadows on the gentle breeze that blew, the girl had taken off her jacket and it lay beside her. David looked her over but his eyes were drawn to her arms. They were lined with cuts and scars. There was barely a patch of skin visible through the close-net lattice of wounds. Had she fallen through glass? Been abused? What had happened?

He saw that she was fingering a small pocketknife that caught the sun from outside the shadows and shined brilliantly, flashing as the angle changed.

Had she done this herself?

David moved swiftly onwards, behind him she was chanting the rhyme and rocking gently.

"Pain, Pain, go away,
Let me smile for just one day,
Should that day I never see,
Let my blood run cold and free."

The next morning David planned on walking on by and ignoring the insane girl as best he could. Visions of her had played on his mind all day and he had found it hard to concentrate, he didn't want the same thing happening today.

This morning was different, the sun was gone, clouds crushed all of the blue from the sky above, the air was still. No birds were singing, the streets were bare, the shadows seemed to be in mourning.

He walked past the wall where the girl had sat, it was bare now.

She was probably just too busy to sit outside her house today; she must have been somewhere else, perhaps even inside. He was sure she was fine.

He walked on towards the bus stop, knowing that he was lying to himself. He had a very bad feeling about her.

For a few mornings there was no sign of her, as if she'd just vanished off the face of the Earth but one morning as he walked down the dark road, as if the Summer had gone back on itself and Autumn had taken precedence, he did see a sign. A bad sign.

Two black Rolls Royce's and a Hearse were parked alongside the pavement. The gate and door of the house were open; bricks were placed at the base of each to stop them from shutting.

Two strong, large men, dressed in immaculate black suits carried a casket from the house and passed by in front of him to slide it into the open back of the longest of the black cars. One man stayed beside it as if on guard while the other returned to the house.

David stood silently, staring into the gaping back of the car, the last ride anyone ever took, the door closed down on it, the trap had been sprung and there was no escaping now.

"Did you know her?" the undertaker asked solemnly?

David was snapped out of his daze and looked at the man in black dumbly. "No," he said, "I have no idea who she is."

He walked on towards the bus stop; this little incident may have made him late. He carried on and put her out of his mind, she wasn't his concern. He didn't cause it, just because he didn't help it didn't mean he was to blame. Nobody else helped either; they were just as guilty.

He missed his bus.