No One Would Believe This but This Is the Real Truth

Write a story ending with: ‘No one would believe this but this is the real truth’

I am at the park now. The same park that I went about twelve years ago. Nothing changed much over here. A bunch of kids are too engrossed playing with the slides, fighting among themselves on who will go down first. I almost laughed at the image of a scrawny little girl pushing an elderly plump girl on the swing, looking rather exhausted. Children are running all over the playground, their delight shrieks fill my heart with joy and warmth. Deep down, I am green with envy. Being an eighteen years old teenage girl that I am now, I’ve never had a such a carefree, smooth childhood. And it is all due to what happened in this park years ago.

“Mom, mom, I want to play over there”, I pulled my mom’s long sleeves, ignoring the fact that she was busy talking on the phone. Well, not exactly talking, she was literally yelling on top of her lungs at someone. I did not really remember who it was. I was six and nothing I cared more than wanting to join kids of my age at the playground. I tugged at her sleeves once again, only to be rewarded by an annoyed stare from my mom’s beautiful chocolate brown eyes before she said, “Honey, go first. I’ll be watching from here okay?”

I leapt in pure joy and excitement. It didn’t take long before I got lost in my own happy world, playing the amazing see-saw, the swing, the slide and many more. Being a friendly child I was, I even made a playground friend. I noticed she looked lonely, sitting on the bench at the far side of the park. “Hey, want to play with me?”, I smiled sweetly. She was blushing and rather shy at first, but I managed to persuade her to join me. Later on, we were on cloud nine and having a whale of time together. She even told me that her name was Sara. I didn’t keep track of time when I noticed that the sun was setting on its horizon and the park was nearly empty except for me and Sara. I was sad, knowing that it was time to go as I said goodbye to her. We even made a silly vow to be playground best friends forever. She smiled at me, cute dimples flashing on her cheeks. I quickly ran the length of the field to catch on my mom who was already in the blue Volvo car parked at the main entrance. Apparently, mom was still on the phone.

Then, I turned my back to take a last glance at my new friend only when I noticed something extremely terrible and the blood drained from my face. I was speechless. There, I saw with my very own eyes, a figure of a tall muscular man wearing all black, black trousers, black shirt, black glasses and a black cap pulled over covering half of his face. He was edging closer to Sara, saying something nasty. Then only I realised that Sara told me earlier that she came to the park alone as her house was just a stone’s throw away. So that person couldn’t be her parent, could he? The expression on Sara’s face was of pure shock and terror as the muscular man tried to grab her small frail body.

Gosh!, Sara was in deep trouble! Only God knows who the man could be. A kidnapper, a child molester, a rapist or a killer. I need to help her. Do something! My inner voice screamed. But I could only stare as I stood rooted at the far edge of the field. I could only stare helplessly as Sara screamed, at high-pitched voice echoing through the emptiness. I just stared hypnotized by the muscular man who placed a handkerchief over Sara’s nose. Again I saw her small body was lifted before two cursed hands which grabbed her back. I was just like a statue when Sara got carried roughly into the back of a van, which then was driven away in the speed of light. I flinched back at the memory.

The memory which was the reason I lived my childhood in fear. The memory which changed me from a gregarious and happy-go-lucky person to the reserved and self-conscious kind of girl. My mom noticed this swing in personality but as always, she was too busy to atttend to me. Day by day, the effect of the guilt and the burden of the horrendous secret had a negative effect on me. I became too scared of strangers that I developed a social anxiety disorder. I am now an awkward teenager, with hardly any friends. I am sad and pathetic. I sigh as the children enjoy their time at the park, fully unaware of my intense scrutiny. After twelve years, I’m not sure whether opening up and telling another soul about this may help. No one would believe this but this is the real truth.