I was really upset last February, so I decided to go for a long walk to clear my mind. I was fifteen at the time.

After maybe five or ten minutes, I had made it to the elementary school a few blocks from my house. The street it’s on is one of the main streets in the neighborhood, so it’s usually moderately busy.

I was about half way up the block, when I saw a large pick up truck with two guys heading down the street towards me. Instantly I got a weird feeling and felt terrified. They passed me and I noticed one guy looking through the rear view window at me. They turned the corner and came up and drove passed me again, and this time they whistled and yelled.

I would’ve kept walking, but they turned the corner on to the street I was going to turn onto. So instead I walked onto the campus of the elementary school and went to a sheltered area and sat there shaking, figuring I would wait until they left and moved on. After a few minutes, I didn’t see them and started to think that maybe I could continue on my walk.

But I was wrong, they circled the block again and yelled at me and honked, before laughing and driving off. I didn’t want to sit there any longer, so I got on the phone with one of my friends and left the elementary school and turned onto another street. I didn’t see them the rest of the day, but throughout the rest of my walk I felt extreme fear of running into them again.

I ended up taking such a complicated way around to get where I was going and back, I ended up getting lost for a few minutes.

Even though it was already seven months ago, I still feel really uneasy whenever I walk down that street alone.

– Elizabeth

Location: SW Birch St, McMinnville, Oregon

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