This story by Ella Leffland contrasts the way the protagonist, a widow in her late fifties, handles life’s challenges with the approaches taken by her dignified, “old-fashioned” aunt and an eccentric, sometimes mentally unstable friend of her aunt who has appointed himself her “protector”. Unable to cope with noisy neighbors and daily problems following the death of her aunt and long-time companion, the woman suffers a nervous breakdown. After an argument with her “protector”, she falls prey to a vicious serial killer. Themes include alienation and isolation, eccentricity, judgement, passivity vs. assertiveness, rudeness vs. civility, fear, violence. More…