without saying anything more , he clicked off , and the screen went blank . before my conscience talked me out of it , i stepped inside and shut the door behind me , pressing my back against it . i felt fear rise up in me for the first time . by all rights i should not have been alive , yet i was still somehow bleeding , leaving a damp red trail in the dust as i tottered forward . shops were beginning to be broken into . we both pretended it never happened . 