My upcoming new story, The Miscalculation, takes place in an alley much like the one seen here. It isn’t a dark and scary alley. It is a wide and open alley lined with the carports of the apartment buildings that sit on either side. It is a southern Californian alley. When I was first writing this tale, I wanted the setting to be something completely innocuous and commonplace. This was partly to set up a contrast between the environment and the events that happen in the story. I guess it is fair to say the story takes place in the ’70’s and walking through alleys back then was a lot less ominous as it might be now. But then the world was a lot less ominous back then. I’m busy polishing all of the bits that need polishing and hope to publish the story soon.