Theater: American Dreams: Lost and Found (1987)
On my off day I went to see an actor friend performing in another part of Atlanta and I had taken the metro to get to her suburban venue. A couple of years before I had worked with this actress in a play in New York and then later it went on tour to California and Hawaii. So to see her on stage completely naked was a surprise and totally unexpected. After her performance we spoke briefly, I thanked her for inviting me and gave her a gingerly hug. For my return trip she suggested I take a shorter route to a different station for the same train as it would save me some walking time. So following her directions I proceeded to walk as I ruminated on the fact that I had just seen her in her Birthday suit performing and I thought nothing could top that. However, little did I know.
She directed me through an unfamiliar neighborhood sometime after 10pm in mid-October. It seemed to be a neighborhood that was well kept and the street lights spaced in a way that provided just enough light. Most of the homes were dark but an occasional front window showed the glare of a TV still on. I guessed that Atlantans went to bed early. After walking for a bit I became aware that I was absolutely the only person outside in this neighborhood – not even a car drove by, and there wasn’t a train station in sight. The rustle of leaves from an occasional breeze lent an ominous mood to my growing unease. I stopped and thought about turning around and going back to the train station I got off at earlier that evening though it would be a long trek. After a moment I chuckled to myself and thought, what am I afraid of?, and continued on my walk. Then I saw him.
About a block and a half away, walking on the same sidewalk in my direction. As we got closer I could immediately see that this situation was going to be strange. He, and I say he because this person was about six feet tall with stout shoulders. He was dressed as a Ninja. All black from head to toe, with slits for eyes and a sword and scabbard rising over his outside shoulder, in classic sword striking position. I’m thinking what the f__k!! A Ninja assassin on a low lit street in Atlanta walking directly toward me!! The closer we got the more I could feel the veins in my neck pulsing. Why would anyone send an assassin to kill me?!! Would this be the end of my journey East in search of a natural voice? Punctuated by my head rolling around on somebody’s suburban Atlanta lawn? When we were about ten feet apart I had to really force myself to look straight ahead as though unfazed, not let him detect any fear in my eyes. If I’m going down it will be a stoic demise. As our shoulders crossed I definitely felt my heart skip a beat. And in that instant my imagination raced to an expectation of the cold slice of a short sword piercing the back of my neck… but nothing happened. I kept walking and didn’t dare look back. At the next corner I saw the train station and I sprinted toward it. Thinking about it later I reasoned that he was probably walking about trying out a new costume for Halloween a couple of weeks away. I never saw that actress again but if I had I would have told her that I saw another costume that night that topped hers.
