So, today was the first day back from a long weekend. I had loads to do and the day went by quickly. My air-conditioned office was oh-so-welcomed despite my sun chasing ways and when I left, I knew I’d be in for a lovely evening. A little wine, sitting outside on the deck, hopefully get some writing in. Read some Wattpad4 entries.
Tuesday. I love you.
It is gorgeous outside today. The sun is blazing and there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. Like I’ve said before, I live in Calgary. The land of perpetual winter so when those precious few weeks of summer are here, I try to make the most of the nice weather.
I take our public transit (a train) home each day and when it’s nice, I happily walk from the station home. It’s about a 25-30 minute jaunt, but I will listen to music or an audiobook and am left alone to my thoughts.
So there I am, walking like a champ when a car pulls over.
“Excuse me,” the guy says.
I stop because perhaps he needs directions. I’m Canadian and true to the stereotype of apologizing when it’s utterly uneccessary and trying to be as friendly as possible.
I smile. “Are you lost?”
He gives me a sideways look, with a slight smirk. “No, I was wondering if you want a ride.”
I’m 5 feet tall. I’m not exactly a shrinking violet but I’m not hefty enough to defend myself against a man aside from the basic self-defense course stuff they teach you.
This guy was young, maybe early 20’s and looked like he didn’t have any problems at the gym.
I got that feeling.
You know the one I’m talking about.
Your heart races, your hands get clammy and red flags are going up everywhere inside your head.
I want to believe that this person is simply being nice. If it were 40 below zero, or hailing or blizzarding, yeah, I can buy that he’s a fellow overly friendly Canuck with no alterior motives.
But my brain tells me this is not the case.
I smile again. “Uh, no thanks, I’m good.”
I. Can’t. Breathe. I’m praying that he doesn’t get out of the car.
My prayer is answered.
He drives away and I walk as fast as my stumpy legs can manage to carry me.
This is a short post, but here’s your lesson in creepiness. I get that society has made it so we can hardly trust anyone any more which in itself is sad and a whole different blog post all together. But when you get that awful feeling in your gut. Listen.
I beg you to please, listen.
Too many scary headlines about abductions, assaults and worse.
I’m glad I listened to that inner voice… but now I need more wine. Oh, and Tuesday? Don't worry. I won't hold it against you.
