Last year I was sitting on the bench at work on my coffee break, when the sultry voice of a mature woman engaged me, “Might I enquire as to your reading material?”

I looked up from reading The Lesser Angels of Our Nature and saw the woman was only in her twenties, and she was wearing red, with a wry expression creasing her mouth that fell purposefully short of a smile. A brief conversation ensued in which she admitted to being a social worker in Baltimore City and to secretly harbor ambitions to write social commentary and horror. She was unwilling to publish as she was certain it would cost her job and result in her being blacklisted from gaining employment in her field of sociology. I gave her a business card, that copy of the book, and assured her that I would be willing to publish her work under a pen name. Even the shield of anonymity, she feared, would not protect her, as she could be identified by her superiors based on her knowledge and dry wit.

I have not seen the Lady in Red—and I can be trusted not to overlook such sights even while toiling away for my benevolent master—since the end of 2014.

To my surprise I received an e-mail yesterday, which began with:

“Hello,

“I’m sure you remember me!

“I’m no longer working in that shitty urban environment. The April Rain and the police stand down were too much for me. I’m now employed in a shitty retail environment like you—you might say I’m working for the Great Satan of retailers—and am currently broke.

“But, on the bright side. I actually have time to write now!

“How are you?”

What followed was what appears to be the first in a series of humorous social commentary which may be accessed through the Lady in Red tab at the top of this page.

Keep it coming Lady in Red.