“The curtains in my living room are never opened”

A number of years ago, a man harassed me at my home. I don’t know how long he was watching me before he made contact, but he eventually got to the point where he would stand on the street and masturbate at me while I was sitting inside my apartment, or on my balcony. It was as if he just materialized out of nowhere; one minute I would be alone reading on the balcony, and the next minute he would be standing there with his pants around his ankles.

This happened every few months…for two years. Repeated calls to 911 made no difference, the man would simply vanish as quickly as he had appeared. I became very paranoid. Every man on the street would seem to have his face. I stopped using my balcony altogether, and started keeping the curtains closed at all times. I tried to avoid walking in my own neighborhood alone or after dark. Even these many years later, and living in a new city, I can’t bring myself to go out on the balcony for extended periods of time, and the curtains in my living room are never opened.

– Anonymous

Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada

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