Sylvia Dahl was a practical woman. With a lawyer for a father and a doctor for a mother, it was only natural that she grew up with a sense of personal safety being towards the top of the list of concerns in daily life. One of the first things she established when she moved into the city was to be wary of strangers. Being from Texas originally, the Big Apple was a bit of a culture shock for Sylvia initially. It wasn't as much of a shock to her parents, but her father still insisted on enrolling her in self-defense classes almost the instant she hit puberty.
While her family had been situated in New York since she was ten years old, Sylvia only moved into the city proper when she started college. Ever since then, she never left. Of course, urban living came with its own set of safety concerns, but she found she rather enjoyed the constant flow of hustle and bustle. With the cityscape to serve as distraction, her ever-busy mind could slow down just a bit. There was quite a bit on her mind today as she jogged through the park. She hadn't meant to leave her office so late, but she was working on her dissertation, which always occupied her so deeply that she tended to lose track of time. When the female voice addressed her, Sylvia snapped out of her daze. Her gut reaction was wariness. She looked around and saw a red-haired woman working in the dirt. It was then that she realized she had wandered from her usual jogging path.
"I must have taken a wrong turn a little while back. Sorry about that," said Sylvia, tucking damp strands of blond hair that escaped her high ponytail behind her ears, mildly embarrassed to be caught spacing out. "I should have noticed how quiet and secluded it is here."