"Fight or Flight" by Tracy Au

Fight or Flight
By Tracy Au

Corrine is a badass. She often is calm, but she can snap if someone threatens her. She has determination to get things done, to get to the bottom of things, to get to the core, to get to the ending.

It was a Tuesday night at the bar. Corrine heads to the washroom. She hears some punching noises in the back room. She opens the door where the sound is coming from. She opens the door slowly and sees Boz punching Ivan while two other guys are holding him. Boz turns around and sees her. She panics and closes the door and speeds away. Flight. Boz grabs her in the hallway and pushes her into the women’s room. He grabs her throat and pushes her to the wall. He says, “You tell anyone what you saw and I will make sure you won’t see anything again.” He walks to the door. Corrine pushes Boz to the wall. Fight. Her courage was up when earlier it was gone. He turns around and takes a swing at her. She backs away and Boz misses. They start punching each other.

He pushes her out to the hall and to the manager’s office. He pushes her into the book shelf. A few books fell off. Corrine pushes the bookshelf over and Boz dodges out of the way. Boz pulls out a gun and she throws a book at him. That’s when people start yelling “What’s going on?” Boz bolts. She climbs over the book shelf and runs to the hallway, but he’s gone. She goes to the room where Ivan was getting beaten up. He lies on the floor. The bartender comes in. “Call 911. He needs an ambulance. I saw him getting beat up by this guy,” says Corrine. The bartender runs to his office and dials 911.