A Bit More Time

May 30, 2000

                            Never trust strangers
           I was maybe 11 years old, my mother and I had just gotten into a fight and as soon as she had fallen asleep I slipped out through my window on the second floor. I silently slid down the roof and latched myself onto the thick ivy trailing down the side of the house. I didn't plan on being out long I just needed some fresh air. I tottered down to the pond a bit a ways from my family's estate. When I got there I collapsed on the ground near the shimmering waters.
          The tears forced their way down my face and before I knew it I was crying, sobbing into the night's chilly embrace. Then, someone's hands were around my mouth, for a moment I couldn't do anything, then, I gripped the hands attempting to pull them away from me. One of the arms wrapped around my body, pulling me away from the pond. I tried to scream but my voice wouldn't work, and before I knew it I was being shoved into a car. It smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, someone began to bind my wrists and ankles together with rope.
          A gag was then placed in my mouth and I was thrown into the crack between the back and the front seats. I managed to get a small glimpse at the man who had taken me captive. I couldn't see very well in the darkness but I could just make out his dark silhouette. The door then slammed shut, seemingly activating my mind as I began to process what was happening. I was being kidnapped, stolen from my home.
          No, not my home, a pond near my home. I never should have left, I could be fast asleep in my bed at this very moment, but instead I was in the back of a strange man's truck. I couldn't help but try to scream, though it was no use as the small neighborhood was slowly fading behind us, along with my dog, my friends, my school, and my parents, fast asleep in their bed, not able to hear my whimpering screams.