PrompTuesday (only a little late)

So I’m going to try my hand at a scary story – in ten minutes or less. So not me, but here goes nothing.

It was a dark and stormy night.

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. The kind of day where the rays of sunlight work their magic until you can feel the pull to go outside. Football was on. I just couldn’t take another minute in the house, and it was only the first quarter. So I packed up Jake and the stroller, and headed off to the park. It was playoffs, and so I assumed (correctly) that the park would be deserted.

After exhausting the swing, I thought a walk by the water might be nice, and a scenic climb up the lookout tower would do us good. There was a long, winding path from the playground leading to the back of the park to the lookout tower. As we crossed a little bridge, a man looked at Jake, and tried to strike up a conversation. Nothing wrong with that, but I felt in my core that we should keep moving.

On the way, Jake was distracted by the ducks. Suddenly, the air was still, and I felt him. I knew he was there. He had followed us to the path. And now we were alone on a very long stretch leading to the back of the park. I grabbed Jake’s hand, pulling him away from the ducks and walked on. “Don’t be a lunatic” I told myself. He’s just a normal guy who likes kids. I looked over my shoulder to find his eyes were boring holes into my back. My pace quickened. I could feel my heart pounding. We walked faster, and cut away to an adjoining path.

“Ok, we lost him.” We kept walking. But I felt his eyes again. He had continued to follow us. “What does he want with me? Or worse, what does he want with Jake?”

Thinking quickly, I scooped up Jake and started walking away from him as fast as I could. And he was still following us. I couldn’t breathe. Everything was closing in. God help us. I only saw a slow motion blur. I couldn’t shake him.

And then, as if by magic, there he was. My knight in shining armour. The park ranger driving his golf cart. Jake squealed in delight. “Hi there. Think your son would enjoy a ride?”

You’ll never know how much.

I know I cheated just a little. This is a bit longer than it was supposed to be, and I spent 15 minutes instead of 10. But I’ve always wanted to write this true story down. It is a single event that finally taught me to listen. I know it was God’s voice telling me to stay away from this guy. But I pushed it aside, and called myself crazy. Only after I was trapped in the back of the park with a wiggling toddler and nowhere to turn, did I realize how foolish I’d been. I know in my heart the consequences of ignoring that feeling could have been unthinkable. He was a normal looking, clean cut guy . But I just know what I know. And that park ranger who appeared out of nowhere saved us.