If I didn't leave, I think he would have hurt me.
Hey. This story happened many years ago, but it's been coming back to mind many times recently, so I decided to share it here, because why not?
When I was ten years old, I went outside with my little brother who was about 2-3 years old. He really enjoyed his morning walks so I asked my Mama to help me strap him in his stroller and took him through the alley adjacent to my house.
Keep in mind that I live in a small island in the Caribbean so it's pretty normal for kids to be just hanging around with siblings or other friends sometimes if they live close by. I just had to say that because some family that sometimes visit from overseas freaks out at the thought of letting kids go outside by themselves.
Okay, back to my story. The morning was cool. There were raindrops still on the flowers and grass from the showers of rain the night before.
I pushed my brother further down the alley and I was just talking to him even though he wasn't really speaking much yet. All of a sudden, this man came out from behind the wall.
I had seen him many times before, sometimes just talking to my uncle so I wasn't alarmed. He walked up to me and stood right in front of my brother's stroller, successfully blocking our path.
I told him Good Morning not forgetting my manners and he said the same. I angled the stroller to drive around him when he shifted once again blocking my path. I was getting uncomfortable.
"Where are you going?" he asked me.
"I'm just going on a little walk with my brother." I replied.
"Oh, that's nice, I was just going down by the beach. You can come with me." he offered.
My stomach dropped. You know that sinking feeling that you get sometimes when you feel like there is something wrong? That feeling was blaring through my body. I was getting a bit scared and I didn't even know why. I've seen him so many times before but that morning something told me to get out of there.
I guess your instincts know when you're in the presence of a predator. I told him that I wasn't sure if was going to the beach even though that was exactly where I was planning to go. My little brother loves listening to the waves, but I didn't want to go with him.
I was pleading internally that he would just walk away but he didn't. He took a step closer and asked the same question a bit more forceful. Saying that he knew that my brother liked the beach and we could spend some time together there.
I refused once again. He then Reached out and tried to grab the handle of my brother's stroller. I was TERRIFIED to say the least. I reversed so fast and shouted that I needed to go back home because my brother was hungry and RAN back home.
Mind you this was a freaking 40 something year old man and I was 10-year-old girl! I'm 18 now and thinking about this still gives me chills.
That's the end of my story. I can say that was probably my first creepy encounter with a man but unfortunately it wasn't my last.
Anyways I still struggle to figure out if I was overreacting or a little paranoid but I'm not sure.
What you think?