![1608442681287_copy_600x719.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmcJzidWdU9uzEd2Nz3GXcdKZb9kTTFnbSNMxmaky5BX3c/1608442681287_copy_600x719.jpg) # The faint lights from my living room provided just enough backlighting for me to see the person on my porch - but as a phantom more than a real person. Oh my God! It was an ex-ex-ex-girlfriend whom I hadn't seen or heard from in many years. [^Image by Pexel](https://images.hive.blog/DQmcJzidWdU9uzEd2Nz3GXcdKZb9kTTFnbSNMxmaky5BX3c/1608442681287_copy_600x719.jpg) Quickly, I shuffled to my front door, opened it, reached in, and switched on my porch light. And what I saw made my jaw drop. This once beautiful Asian sweetheart now looked like a forlorn homeless person. Gone was the luxurious brown, butt-length hair, manicured nails, and subdued make-up that used to frame her angelic face. Her face, arms, and hands were sun burnt, almost black; not the luscious mocha color I remembered. Her hair was barely collar-length. Much later I learned that she had sold her hair to local wig makers. She had sunken eyes and was rail thin. Her once stunning figure now resembled a boy more than a woman. Dirty and disheveled, she was wearing an old, filthy T-shirt that was torn in many places. Her jeans looked four sizes too large and were rolled up to calf length. Flip-flops that were held together with masking tape looked painfully small for her scarred, muddy feet. I slowly walked toward her and put out my hand. ![1608539369151.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmeNnpU2AqAok8GAivRH2yXcGsmApo3EnUfLGyvaRADVPB/1608539369151.jpg) [Image by Pexel](https://images.hive.blog/DQmeNnpU2AqAok8GAivRH2yXcGsmApo3EnUfLGyvaRADVPB/1608539369151.jpg) She sprinted the last four steps between us, grabbed my hand, pulled me closer, and tightly wrapped her arms around me as if she thought I would soon vaporize and disappear - like the rest of her hallucinations... By JaiChai ![0_k5rG_d5uMdUPExoj.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmWS8qCaSN3kxBvuo92pE2ySr8iND7Pz5r4HneiwCYHG3X/0_k5rG_d5uMdUPExoj.jpg) [Image by Author] # [This is YOUR TORUM INVITATION!](https://www.torum.com/signup?referral_code=JaiChai) ![images (18).jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmXHVoyf39r5Jo2z7QxdxS8A9shRdDdN4SYjr78wb3VY8G/images%20(18).jpg) [Image by Author] # Excerpted from: [Suckers and Samaritans. Same Thing?](https://steemit.com/love/@jaichai/suckers-and-Samaritans-same-thing) - JaiChai 2017. Revised 12-21-2020. All rights reserved.