Hi friends,
I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures of Halloween candy chutes last week. It was a fun celebration in the midst of a lot of ‘not-fun’ happenings. 🙂
Today is the second in my series on how to recognize warning behaviors that might come before an attack.
Remember Julie’s story, with her classmate Anthony who won’t take no for an answer when she refuses his offer of a ride home? We left the story with him following her to the bus stop.
And thanks to those of you who wrote back about what Julie should do, with some great suggestions:
- from Tracey: Julie should TRUST HER GUT! Then, quickly scan her surrounds for a safe place to potentially run.
- from Surekha: One thing that struck me was Julie “suddenly” feeling that something was “off” with Anthony, and feeling “uneasy”. That was her intuition talking.
- from Irene: I think Julie is right, this person is a stranger and, while he may be innocent, someone who doesn’t listen to the word “No” is not someone you want to be alone with.
Warning Sign #2
Too Many Details
(When lying a person will often add too many details. They think it makes them sound more believable to their victim – “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin de Becker)
“Well, I’m happy to walk you to your bus stop and wait with you,” Anthony said as he matched steps with Julie.
She walked faster, no sure how to shake the persistent guy.
“It’s no big deal, I promise. I have a sister who I worry about, and I’d hope someone would watch out for her when it’s late like this,” he said with an easy shrug. “She’s into art too, just like us. In fact, she was the one who suggested I take this art class. I’ve never really taken a class like this. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, but it’s actually a lot of fun, don’t you think?”
Julie gave a tense nod as she saw the bus stop up ahead. While the street had plenty of traffic whizzing by, the stop was deserted. It had begun to get dark and the street lamps were on.
“I do the opposite of art all day, boring accounting stuff . . .” Anthony continued to drone on with details about his life. Julie wasn’t really interested, but it did make him sound pretty normal, not so sinister.
Analysis:
What is Anthony doing here? And how could it lead to danger for Julie?
- There is still the possibility that Anthony is attracted to Julie and determined to pursue her. But, the flood of details without any meaningful interaction from her doesn’t bode well for her safety or his personal skills.
- Julies defenses will naturally go down the more she “knows” about Anthony. This flood of details is critical to his attempt to make the transition from stranger to friend, which will naturally lower her defenses.
Were you warned by anything Anthony did this time? Have you ever noticed someone using this technique to “sell” their story to you?
Hopefully thinking these scenarios through will heighten your ability to recognize this type of behavior and feel more confident in keeping yourself safe.
Stay safe out there!
All the best,
— Misty 🙂
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Misty’s Writing Update:
Steph and I are forging into book 3 – about 25k words so far. This is the part I like, when all the fun stuff starts happening and we’re foreshadowing for the big stuff at the climax of the story.
My question this week is a bit macabre. Unlike a disease raging through and killing everyone, in our story, society breaks down after the disaster. But many people make it through alive at the start. So what happens to them all? How do they die?
Imagine for a moment, it’s 10 days after a big disaster hit and:
- The power has gone off and on
- Water is not working everywhere
- Food delivery trucks have stopped
- Stores are looted
- Occasional tornado or fires have hit.
- Police and/or National Guard are operating in pockets.
So, how would you envision vast numbers of people dying? And what would it look like? Bodies in the street? Big chunks of war zones with bodies? Technically they wouldn’t be actually starving to death yet if they have enough drinking water.
I’d love to hear how you think this would play out!
Happy reading this week,
— Misty 🙂
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