A Game Of Cat And Mouse

This is the season for school plays.
Many of the area high schools put on elaborate performances.
They incorporate the talents of musicians, artists, and costume designers.
They tap into the talent of the actors, actresses, singers, and dancers.

I have fond memories of being in my high school productions.
I was usually part of the chorus.
I loved being dressed in costume and see the lights come up and the audiences fade.
Being part of the play required commitment.

Whether you had a large part or a small one, you were expected to come to practice.
There were main roads to my high school, but to save time, I often took back roads.
Sometimes, those of us who lived near each other would share the driving.
Often, because of other activities, we needed to drive alone.

I remember one such night.

I left my house and decided to take the back roads since I wanted to be on time.
Music was playing on the radio and I was singing along.
Suddenly, a car came out of a side street and was behind me.
It’s lights were blinding in my rear view mirror.

I tilted my mirror to see if that helped the glare.
Every time I touched the mirror, they would blink their high beams on and off.
If it had been an emergency, they could have easily gotten around me.
There was no traffic on these back roads.

They got very close to the back bumper of my car.
Then they would retreat.
Closer.
Retreat.

My mind was racing with possibilities.
I couldn’t pull over because that would be unsafe.
I needed to get to a main road.
I needed to get to school.

There was no turning around.
There was only forward.
Going forward with someone close behind.
I could see the silhouettes of the young men in the car behind me.

I was so scared.
I could hear them hollering things behind me.
Teasing. Taunting.
Using their car to play a game of cat and mouse.

Except I wasn’t playing.
I wanted to cry, but I had to keep my wits about me.
Even when I finally reached my high school, the gym entrance was in the back.
The parking lot was scattered with the cars of cast and crew.

Close to the gym entrance, were the handicapped parking spaces.
That area of the parking lot seemed the best lit.
The lights of the school were shining brightly through the glass doors.
Those lights were like a beacon of safety to me.

The car followed me into the parking lot.
It swerved back and forth in the back lot where no cars were parked.
It came closer and then retreated, just like it had been doing the entire way.
My mind was racing; how do I get out of the car alone and walk into the building?

There was no one outside.
Everyone had already gone in.
I felt extremely vulnerable.
I pulled into a handicapped parking space, as close to the entrance as I could get.

I looked in the doors and saw someone I knew walking near the entrance.
I held my hand on my car horn until she turned around.
I kept it there until she came to the door.
I could see the car inching closer and closer, yet still staying in the shadows.

She opened the glass door.
I grabbed my purse and my keys and ran out, yelling her name.
I got inside still shaking from the ordeal.
The car made a large doughnut in the parking lot and sped away.

The young men inside the car were laughing and hollering as they left.

Are you alright? she asked, looking terribly afraid herself.
I am now. I don’t know how to thank you.
I sat down on the steps and cried.
I was safe, but I thought of all that could have happened.

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways…thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. (Proverbs 2:10-15,20-22)

I never took the back roads again if I was driving alone at night.
I was always so grateful to God for His protection.
I think back as to how He brought that one girl to the gym entrance at just the right time.
Jesus tells us over and over, Do not be afraid.

Literally, NO FEAR!

This world can be scary sometimes.
This world has many shadows.
Those of us who are in Christ live in HIS Light.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging…Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:1-3,10)

Know that He is God.
NO FEAR!