SHARON

As The Boss took off down the hall, he passed Anna who had just come out into the hall to see what was going on. She was wearing the same shoulder bag she had at the bus stop. As hurried as he was, The Boss saw the opportunity to get the book. It might be the last chance that he would ever get, so he grabbed the shoulder strap as he ran by her.

Mick could not believe what he was seeing. The Boss must be desparate for whatever was in that purse, to snatch it in front of a cop and several witnesses. Mick ran after the criminal and slid around the corner just after The Boss. Just as he was opening the door to run down the stairs, Mick caught up and tackled him.

The Boss fell forward and the purse sailed out of his hands and hit the wall. The bag wasn't zipped up, so everything flew out of it, including the book. In five minutes flat, Mick had subdued The Boss, and forced him face down on the cold tile floor. In another minute he had The Boss's hands cuffed behind his back. The Boss saw the book across the floor from him, and turned his head so that he wouldn't draw attention to the book.

Everyone that had been outside Charlie's room were now standing  in front ofthe door to the stairwell. The Boss wasn't going to get anywhere even if he did manage to escape. Mick pulled The Boss to his feet, and began to radio the arrest into the station. Since it was pretty obvious that officer Mick had things under control, Sharon began to help Anna pick up the contents of her purse.

Sharon held the little burgundy book out to Anna. She took it and turned it over. Cunfused, she said, "this isn't mine, I haven't seen it before."  Mick had been watching the women noncommitally as he spoke on the radio. When Anna said that the book wasn't hers, he raised his eyebrows in sudden interest.  He gestured for Anna to bring the book to him.

Mick kept a firm grip on the cuffs behind  the The Boss's back as he took a quick look through the book. Names, dates, deliveries. he grinned happily. Maybe he finally had something solid on this scumbag that would put him away for a good long time.

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Author guidance for This story

This is a story about the stories we tell ourselves about the other people around us. It begins with Anna, who has noted various people around her who are "familiar strangers." She is always curious but never willing to intrude on their privacy to get to know them, so she has thought up stories in her head about them. She assumes that they, too, have wondered about her and made up their own stories about who she is and what is happening in her life. *Each chapter should be from the perspective of a particular person, set out as the chapter title or at the beginning in bold. The chapter should both tell a bit of the "real" story of that person from their own perspective and include their thoughts on the story of a "familiar stranger" in their life. To begin with the stories should branch out around Anna with the people she sees, creating a web. Multiple chapters can tell different stories of the same "familiar stranger." The point is to contrast a person's private life with what could be imagined about them by others they see in public. Characters so far: ~Anna - woman who has just started wearing red and a flower in her hair, seen on the bus and an elevator ~Rodger - man seen on bus with groceries, park, graveyard, coffee shop ~Josee - waitress uniform says Sally, waitress in coffee shop, originally from Montreal, lets Charlie stay longer and does not make him pay for coffee ~Mick - police officer in coffee shop, Newfoundlander ~Charlie - old drunk found in coffee shop, wounded in some ways, educated voice ~Isla - tortoise shell hair band and Scottish red hair, Celtic cross, librarian, called Morag by Charlie, and Red by Tom (her boyfriend?), hard to get to know, green eyes, uses strawberry shampoo ~Constantine - doorman with mustache and from Europe ~Megan - seen on bus, young, loves Bryan, looking for a job ~Beatrice - on elevator, cheap perfume, always well-dressed if out of fashion ~James - seen on elevator, crooked tie, smokes ~Jenny - likes plants and works in an office ~Bryan - new, ambitious, works in an office ~Rory - James' manager ~Janet - works in library (eats lunch in the park, likes crime novels?) ~Tom(Thomas) King - calls Isla (his girlfriend?) Red, RN ~Melissa - mother of Matty, works for Mrs. Bentington ~Mrs. Bentington - grouchy woman, employer of Melissa, demands high heeled shoes ~Adam - portrait artist in the park, Southern accent, student. ~Mr. Brown - Beatrice's boss, red hair, lawyer ~ice cream vendor - in the park, wedding ring, missing pinky ~jogger - in the park, dark skin, shaved head, in good shape and young ~Andrea - on the bus, busy, works in an office ~Stacey - woman Bryan was seeing, trying to make her ex-boyfriend jealous, very fake-seeming ~Katja Elena Novikova - immigrant, accountant who cannot find a good job, model for Adam's art class, refuses to be an au-pair ~doctor - works in the shelter Charlie goes to ~bus-station manager - lets Charlie have a locker ~Alyssa - research assistant for law firm, blond, writing a novel ~Rebecca - waitress in the coffee shop, father is suffering from dementia ~Morag - woman in Charlie's past ~laundromat woman - glares at Charlie ~men following Anna - one recognized by Charlie, they beat Charlie ~Sharon - works in a grocery store, small, carries a tote bag, attacked the men who attacked Charlie -Melanie - nurse working with Tom, in her 40s, numerous grandchildren, blond hair

updated Dec 4 '08 by CheshireGrin