Imagined?

It’s funny how something can happen in your life and you are able to twist it. When I was a teen we lived in a townhouse complex that bordered an industrial park. It was the eighties and we didn’t hang out at home unless the parents weren’t there. It was October and the days were getting shorter and colder. Parents wanted you home when the streetlights came on unless you had somewhere to go specifically. We spent a lot of time in the underground garage. You had to sneak in and you couldn’t get caught. Somebody told someone’s mom, so it was not an option. A friend of ours told us about a construction trailer that was put up behind one of the industrial buildings, so we decided to check it out.

Now me and my bff were fourteen and four foot nothing. We had our matching vests and leg warmers, we had gotten for back to school that year and still freezing. The trailer was easy to find, and what a find it was! Hydro! So lights and heat, a big desk, comfy chairs and a bathroom, it was like having our own apartment. We hung out there for almost a week. One late afternoon, the door opened and a huge man came in. He asked us what we were doing there and we explained we were just hanging out. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have on a suit or a uniform. He picked up the phone, put it to his ear, replaced it in the cradle and left. We know the phone didn’t work, would of been a sweeter spot if it did. So when he left we just kind of stared at each other to process what just happened. All of a sudden, the trailer started shaking. It had one door and a small window beside that. We ran to the door and it wouldn’t open! We looked out the window and the big man was peeling away in his huge half ton truck with no writing on it. He had wedged a huge piece of lumber against the door so we couldn’t get out! Immediate panic set in, the window didn’t open, I grabbed the useless phone and smashed the window, moving the table to climb out, the glass shredded my vest, my friend was just a little smaller than me, could not get out, so I went back in boosted her up and crawled out behind her just in time to see the truck returning. Behind the trailer was a field and the 401 highway. We booted it across the field. There were huge trenches at least four feet wide we had to jump over every ten feet. The highway was bordered by a 12 foot fence, so we ran along it to the river. We hid under a bridge for 3 hours, he kept driving back and forth on the road above. We tossed our vests and our burdock littered leg warmers and eventually got home. Never to speak of it again.

Hindsight, maybe he was security, he never identified himself. In the moment, he was a predator and he had himself a prize. We were pretty traumatized for quite some time. Any vehicle looking remotely like the one he drove would evoke a fear, like no other. I still wonder what if ? I never told my parents until I was grown and even then the validity of the actual intention is quite concerning. I tried as a parent to be clear that my kids could tell me anything, but I still get the stories after they are grown that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. They have stuff that would curl your hair parents!