Run on Red

by Noelle W. Ihli

Men like this said things like that to girls like us, knowing we’d been told our whole lives that if we listened carefully and followed the rules, we’d stay safe.

What it came down to was this: We were all targets. Even if you made the right choice, followed the right rules, took the right risks, kept your cool, made the right friends, didn’t walk alone home after dark, kept a rape whistle in your pocket, and guarded your drink at bars. I’d always thought I could skip the bad parts of life if I tried hard enough. If I was smart enough. But sometimes the trouble came to you—for the simple fact that it could and it wanted to.