Christmas is about peace, love and family. So here's a story about a violent mugging. Would you step in and save her?

EXTERIOR - Night - A dark city sidewalk/alleyway

A woman in violently pulled into a dark alleyway by a man, he's big and throws her to the ground. She screams as he pulls her deeper into the alleyway and out into a dark abandoned parking lot.

ATTACKER
SHUT UP

VICTIM
PLEASE. NO!

EXTERIOR - Night - A different street

Allan is a meek, nerdy man. He looks like a math teacher and seems slightly unnerved walking through the dark area. As he walks through the quiet, dark street everything seems menacing. He jumps when a cat jumps out from blackened walkway.

ALLAN
Jesus! Oh my god Allan. A cat?

He shakes it off and continues down the street, as he walks into a setting familiar to the audience Allan hears a jarring sound. It sounds almost like a scream and stops him in his tracks but Allan doesn't trust his nerves and shakes it off. He heads past the alley way and around the corner, into the dark abandoned parking lot. He walks across the dark lot to a bike and starts with his combination lock, in the background there's a burst of sudden movement. A woman's body flies violently to the ground.

ATTACKER
You bitch!

The woman screams, she's crying; nearly hysterical.

Allan sees the act of horror and recoils, he goes with his first instinct which is to run. He runs to the one hiding place he sees, the alleyway. He runs into the alleyway and stops behind a dumpster, he's shaking with panic due to the sound of violent blows.

ATTACKER
I am going to KILL you!

Hidden behind the dumpster Allan can't bear to look, he hears the sound of blow after blow and finally musters up the nerve to make a run for it through the alleyway back to the street. When he reaches the opening he looks around. There's no one, no one to help, no payphones to use, it's completely quiet except for the sounds of the brutality behind him.

VICTIM
Please stop. Nooooo. I have a son.

Allan stops, he turns back to look. The attacker is standing over her, his back to the alleyway, he's totally unaware of Allan's presence. Allan is terrified but the need to act has possessed his body, he inches slowly through the darkness towards the scene; along the way he finds a chunk of cement. He picks it up and makes a decision right there.

ALLAN
(whispers to himself)
Please god.

Allan rushes the attacker with the cement in throwing position, he hurls it as he rushes forward. The attacker hears something and spins around, there's a gunshot, the cement smashes into the attacker's face; shattering his nose into a bloody mess. He falls.

Allan stumbles out of the alley and up to the women.

ALLAN
Are...are...are you ok?

She shakes her head, no. Tears stream down her face.

ALLAN
Do you have a phone.

As Allan starts this sentence there's a small appearance of blood on his chest, the stain grows larger and larger as it leaks out of his body.

The woman finds a phone in the bottom of her purse and holds it up.

ALLAN
Good...call the police.

Allan collapses just as the camera fades to black, leaving the viewer to only guess his fate.

-END-