It was in the middle of winter and I was staying after school to rehearse for a dance production I was in. When it had ended, I asked for my mum to come and pick me up but she was at her Bridge Club. My friends offered me lifts home but I said I would walk, being in the active mood. I walked outside and it was already really dark. I looked at my watch and the time was 7:30.

　　I walked for about 20 minutes until I came to the alleyway that lead to my house. This alleyway is known to be quite dangerous. Many people have been mugged down in broad daylight, including me. Anyway, I started walking down the alleyway, and luckily the street lamps were still on. As I was about a quarter of the way down it, I had a sudden urge to look behind me, being kinda paranoid about things. When I looked behind, I thought I saw the figure of a man. He looked strangely familiar. His silhouette1 showed a top hat, a coat which fanned out at the top and bottom and he appeared rather tall. I looked closer and fear swept over me as I saw what looked like a long knife in his hand. I turned around and started walking faster, being careful not to run as he might chase after. It wasn't long before I had another urge to turn around, and when I did, he wasn't there.

　　Breathed a sigh of relief and caught my breath a bit. Feeling like I must have imagined it through paranoia2, I turned back around. I couldn't help myself, I screamed petrifying3 as the same figure was in front of me, only a lot, lot closer. I could clearly see the details of his clothes, the knife, and then history caught up with me. The figure I saw was the deathly figure of the infamous4 Jack5 the Ripper. I didn't know what to do then. Jack the Ripper died a long time ago, didn't he? I turned on my heel and started to run but my body didn't move. Someone was grabbing6 on to my arm, I slowly turned my head and a horrifying7 face startled8 me. His eyes were grey and bloodshot with huge black bags underneath9 them. His skin looked as if it was burnt and sore, and his teeth were yellow, but there were cracks in them with a red stain.

　　I screamed again and tried to get my arm free but the man had pushed me on to the ground. He kneeled down over me and moved the knife close to my stomach. I screamed in pain as the knife cut the surface layer of my skin. I couldn't lie there and let him kill me, so I bit the hand which was over my mouth and wriggled10 away from him. I ran back in the direction of my house but I forgot about my school bag which I had dropped while trying to get away. I then fell and smacked11 my head against the pavement. As everything went black, a tear came from my eye as I saw his boots stop near my side. I smiled a bit as I would not have to feel the pain as he mutilated my body.

　　To my surprise, I woke up in my bed the next morning. I thought I was dreaming and that I would have to go through that boring school day again, but as I sat up, a sharp pain cut through my stomach. I lifted up my top and saw a knife shaped wound. My mum came in my room, and saw I was awake. She asked if I was ok now and I asked her what had happened. She showed me a newspaper article about a guy who had been going around dressed as Jack the Ripper and killing12 girls. He claimed to be Jack's grandson. I asked if that was the guy who did the same thing to me, and why he didn't kill me. She said that someone had seen me fall and ran to help me, the person had also said that he had seen a man run away as he approached.

　　I asked if we could send a card to the man to thank him but my mum said that there was no need as he was in the sitting room. I got out of bed and went downstairs to thank him. When I got there, the guy looked like he was really tall. My dad was in there talking to me and he told me the story of how the guy was feeling when he saw the Ripper guy run away. I went to shake the mans hand, and froze in fear, when the man smiled, his teeth were yellow, and they had cracks stained with something red...

　　那是隆冬的一天，放學后我仍然留在學校，因為要參加舞蹈演出的一次排練。排練結束后，我打電話給母親問她是否來接我回家，但是她說她正在橋牌俱樂部玩牌。朋友們說可以載我回家，但我剛排完舞，心情特別好，想自己走走，所以就沒坐同學的車。我走出學校，天已經完全黑了，看了眼手表，現在是七點半鐘。

　　走了將近二十分鐘，前面是一條小巷，通往我家。大家都知道這條小巷非常危險。這里即便是大白天也會有搶劫發(fā)生，很多人都遭遇過了，其中也包括我在內。但是我還是沿著這條路走下去了，不過很幸運此時路燈亮著。走了將近四分之一的距離，總是感覺在身后有什么東西在跟著我，所以我忍不住想回頭看個究竟。我向后望去，看見了仿佛是一個人影，而且看起來是那么的熟悉。他看上去身材高大，戴著一頂尖尖的帽子，身上的大衣從領口到下擺像一個扇面一樣伸展開來。我定睛觀看，隨即發(fā)現他手里好像拿著一把長長的匕首，當時我被嚇得魂飛魄散。我轉過身，大踏步地向前走，但是恐怕他會追我所以不敢跑起來。不久，我又想回頭看，但是當我再回過頭去的時候，他已經不在那了。

　　我如釋重負，長出了一口氣，也許那是我的幻覺。我轉回身來，哇!那個影子正在我的前面，而且比剛才近了很多，我不由自主地驚聲尖叫起來。他的衣服還有手中的匕首都清楚地出現在我面前，剎那間往事浮現在我腦海里。這不就是那個臭名昭著的兇手杰克死時的樣子嗎？我手足無措了，兇手杰克不是死了很久了嗎？我想撒腿就跑但是身子卻動不了。有人抓住了我的胳膊，我緩緩地轉過頭來，那張可怕的臉嚇得我魂不附體。灰色的眼睛充滿了血絲，下方垂著兩個巨大的眼袋，烏黑的一片?？瓷先ハ袷潜粺沽说钠つw，又像是潰爛了的樣子，以及滿嘴的黃牙，裂開了，布滿了紅色的斑點。

　　我再一次歇斯底里般的狂叫，試圖把胳膊抽回來，但是被他一把按倒在地。他用膝蓋抵著我，匕首伸向我的胃部。我的皮膚被割開了，我痛苦的嘶叫著。我不能夠躺在那任他宰割，我在他捂著我嘴的手上猛咬了一口，然后掙扎著跑開了。我朝著我家的方向跑去，我的書包在我掙扎的時候掉在了地上，但是我忘記了。后來我摔倒了，頭撞倒了人行道上。當看到他的雙腳站在我旁邊時，我絕望了，一滴眼淚順著臉頰流下來。我露出了些許的微笑，我再也不用忍受他對我身體的蹂躪了。

　　令我驚訝的是，第二天早上我醒來時發(fā)現在我的床上。我想我是做了個夢，于是我回想著在學校那無聊的一天（我又得象平時那樣上那沒勁透頂的學了）。我坐起來，但是感到了鉆心的疼痛。我揭開繃帶，看見一道明顯的傷口。母親進來了，見我醒了，便問我是否感覺好了一些。我問她都發(fā)生了什么事情，母親給我看報紙上的一篇報道，講一個人自稱是兇手杰克的孫子，故意打扮得像是杰克并殺害年輕的女孩。我問母親對我下毒手的是不是那個人呢？那么為什么他不殺了我呢?母親說有人見我摔倒在那便過去幫助我，這個人還說他看見有個人在他過去的時候逃跑了。

　　我問母親是否我們應該寄一張賀卡給這個人表示感謝呢，母親說不必了，因為他此時正在客廳里。于是我下了床，下樓去向他表示謝意。我到了客廳，那個人看上去可真高。父親和我講了事情的經過，告訴了我這個人眼看著兇手逃走。我趕忙過去握他的手，剎那間我毛骨悚然——當他向我微笑的時候，我看見他滿嘴的黃牙，都已裂開了，布滿了紅色的斑點……