The city had a different rhythm on Sunday afternoons. The noise of traffic mingled with a strange silence, as if everyone were breathing more slowly. I went out for a walk without an escort, without my architect's helmet, without folders under my arm. Just a coffee in my hand and my cell phone turned off. I needed to forget for a couple of hours that my life had become a chess game against opponents who didn't know the rules.

The street was almost empty. The trees cast long shadows on the sidewalk. Then I heard it.

The roar of an accelerating engine.

I turned my head just in time to see a black car violently turn the corner. The tires screeched. The headlights blinded me.

For a second, I thought I wasn't going to move. That this time I wouldn't get a second chance. My body wouldn't respond. Time stood still.

"ISABELLA!" a voice shouted behind me.

Arms pushed me hard. I rolled across the sidewalk, coffee spilling onto the ground. The car grazed me, inches from my face, and disappeared