He’s our devil in decaying armor, the modern day cannibal, the suspect neighbor, the psycho Santa, the prank caller, the bad cop, the slow-passing car, the 4:00 am phone call, the disguised cableman, the shadow at the end of the hall, the man on the corner, the man in the alley, the man behind you, the too friendly landlord, the noise you can’t trace, the armed intruder, the unarmed intruder, the gut feeling, the unrecognizable knock, the unashamed eye contact, the uncomfortable silence, the lone swinger in the park, the suit and tie man watching on the beach, the touchy priest, the slow working house painter, the all-too-regular customer, the pushy date, the dark shaded flasher, the soft spoken child molester, the eyes at the window, the man lying in the back seat of your car, the Boogie man, the one walking in your attic, the unlocked door, the ransacked apartment, the disconnected phone, the fear in your own home, the unfunny clown, the chummy drunk, the coach you couldn’t trust, the two-faced stepfather, the jogger following your path, the stranger who knows your name.
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Julie Mullany will receive her MA in literature in May 1999 from Creighton University in Omaha. She has been published in Shadows, Creighton’s Literary and Art Magazine and has won a 1st place and 2nd place prize in two consecutive Creighton poetry competitions sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.