THE CITY VS. KAREN GANT
by
Mel Spivak



Judge Johns was in his fifties, had curly red hair tinged with gray. He looked down at her. Karen stood in front of the table with her hands clasped in front of her.

"You're not having one of your bad days, are you, Miss Gant?" he said.

She didn't answer.

"You do get obnoxious at times. You shouldn't scream your comments on the passing scene to people who walk by. You can be allowed to be twenty-five yards away from these businesses. You can't enter."

"I have to enter, Your Honor," she said.

"You go out in the hall with your social worker and the prosecuting attorney and discuss. The criminal charge has been taken care of."

They found a bench and whispered until they were finished. Karen went out to the front of the courthouse and sat on the steps. She was depressed. She thought about her horse, Abdul. She pictured herself riding on him again. She wished she could find him. Traffic rolled past her. She was yelled at. Reviled. She enjoyed the attention and was repulsed. She wanted something magical to happen so it would all be over so she could be with the animal that she loved rather than on the streets.



THE END