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The Time My Friends Were Street Dumb

(PART TWO of The Time I Was Street Dumb)

By Saige WhitneyPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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Taken in Murray Park

The Time My Friends Were Street Dumb

I was in seventh grade. One of the seventh graders or “sevies.”

So cute. So innocent. Very innocent.

It was like any other Wednesday. I would go to school and then afterwards my friend group would walk across the street of our junior high and go to one of the many restaurants there. Today we got pizza. We would switch off every other Tuesday between pizza, Chick-Fil-A, Coldstone; whatever we were feeling.

It was after lunch, we were chatting it up, making fun of each other, whatever I did when I was in seventh grade. I was pretty weird lol.

We decide to make our way to Murray Park. In Salt Lake there’s a million smaller towns within the whole city. Murray is just one of them. Murray Park was fairly close to our junior high.

I remember distinctly being with my four friends that day. We were just walking around the park joking around before we headed home.

A white Bugatti passed by us on the street but it didn’t catch my eye until it came back again past us, and then rolled past us for a third time. That’s when I knew something wasn’t right.

After he passed us the third time I threw out the comment,

“Hey! That guy is stalking us.” I said pointing over to his car.

All three of my friends peered over at me.

“What?” My friend Michelle, who was walking farthest away from me said.

“Saige calm down no one is stalking us.” My friend Natalie next to me said.

Michelle then straight up laughed,

“Saige you are so paranoid.”

“I’m serious you guys!” I said, slightly embarrassed. But not too embarrassed to protect my friends.

“Don’t you guys see how he’s looking at us?”

I pointed over to his car, which at this point was weaving in and out of the recreation center parking lot that we were walking past. His eyes were completely glued on us.

“Saige just calm down.” Natalie said again.

“We’re fine!”

“Okay.” I said unconvinced, but not willing to hassle my friends any further.

As if reading my thoughts, I then saw the white car race past us quickly again.

It wasn’t until he clearly braked right in front of us a few meters ahead, that reality hit my friends: this is not normal stranger-in-car-behavior.

Natalie let out a nervous laugh,

“Ok you’re right Saige, let’s get away from this sidewalk!!”

We ran further into the Park, veering away from the street where the perpetrator was.

We started hiding behind trees...Hopping around with all this nervous energy. We were taking it seriously but also being stupid about it.

We then saw our friend Ashton walk by. He was walking home from school.

“Ashton!”

We all cried, hurriedly running up to him.

“A guy is trying to kidnap us Ashton!!”

We yelled in fear and laughter.

Ashton smiled and started laughing.

“Why would anyone want to kidnap you guys?” He said shaking his head as he tried to walk away.

“Ashton! Don’t leave! He’s going to get us!” We all cried out!

“Girls you’re going to be fine. Where even is he?!” He said looking around the park.

I spoke up. “ He’s in a white car. A Bugatti. He keeps driving up and down the streets looking at us!!”

“Where?” Ashton said looking at me.

“I don’t know...” My sentence coming to a halt, because I had just realized that his car was gone and completely out of sight.

“See?! You guys are fine! See you later! I’m going to hockey practice!”

“Ok bye Ashton!” We all said looking around and making sure the coast was clear to get back to the sidewalk.

“That’s so weird you guys.” I said, fearfully, yet still trying to sound brave.

“The guy is totally gone.”

“Yeah see Saige?” Natalie said nodding. “No big deal.”

“No big deal.” I nodded back at her, trying to swallow my fear.

Yet it was a big deal. Something still didn’t feel right. I started walking faster. My head was spinning out with thoughts. How’d he just disappear? Did he just drive away? Is he going to come back?

I picked up my pace walking ahead of the group, up the hill before the Murray ice rink, embarrassed yet sick with fear, needing to be away from my friends for a minute.

When I got to the top I looked back at my friends. That’s when terror struck me as a lightning bolt would. My body went stiff and my muscles felt electrified with fear.

Just a little ways behind from where my friends were standing, the man in the white Bugatti was there. Out of his car, muscles tensed, buzz cut hair, wife beater tank top on. He had parked his car directly behind the bathrooms, as to hide it from me and my friends when we walked by.

The look in his face was vile, I remember feeling like a piece of meat, the way he looked at me.

My friends looked back to see what I was looking at and screamed fearfully.

That’s was when I let out,

“okay, that’s it, I’m done.”

And I quickly started sprinting away from the man, into the recreation center we were close to. My friends thankfully followed me behind closely.

When we got into the recreation center, of course not a single parent answered their phones. No one could pick us up, and we were pretty sure a psycho killer was after us.

I called my mom hastily.

This is exactly how the call went:

“Hello?”

“Mom it’s Saige! A man is trying to kidnap us while we were walking home from school!”

“What? Why are you not at home getting ready for soccer practice?”

“No I’m not, because a crazy man was trying to kidnap us in his white car!”

“Saige you need to get home in 20 minutes to get ready for soccer practice.”

“What? Mom there’s a creepy guy out there!!”

“Awh I’m sorry; Saige walk home fast!!”

“What mom?!”

“Okay I’m getting my hair done, don’t be late for soccer practice! Bye.”

“Um bye?”

There was no help. After about five to ten minutes no one could pick us up. We were frightened to go back outside. I started crying. We were so afraid of this monster of a man brutally attacking us.

After about ten minutes, with all of us taking one big deep breath, we all made our way outside again to take the long walk home. He was nowhere to be found and to this day I still haven’t seen him again.

Be aware of your surroundings kids. If something doesn’t feel right listen to that feeling. There’s a reason you’re feeling that way.

Don’t push away feelings of being unsafe or if something is off. Be smarter. And please, please be smarter than me and my friends.

May you take this story as a warning, and be aware that not all people have good intentions. There is evil out there, so please be careful.

May you all be safe, yet still live a happy life.

I mean look at me. Still alive, even though sometimes I wonder how I haven’t been kidnapped yet.

END OF STORIES

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