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For Parents' Eyes Only Shannon could hear the footsteps
behind her as she walked toward home. The thought of being
followed made her heart beat faster. "You're being silly," she
told herself, "no one is following you." To be safe, she began
to walk faster, but the footsteps kept up with her pace. She was
afraid to look back and she was glad she was almost home. Shannon
said a quick prayer, "God please get me home safe." She saw
the porch light burning and ran the rest of the way to her house.
Once inside, she leaned against the door for a moment, relieved to
be in the safety of her home. She glanced out the window to
see if anyone was there. The sidewalk was empty. After
tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get
on-line. She sent him an instant message: ByAngel213: Hi I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird! GoTo123: LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood? ByAngel213: Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out. GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you? ByAngel213: Of course not. I'm not stupid you know. GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today? ByAngel213: Yes and we won!! GoTo123: That's great! Who did you play? ByAngel213: We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL GoTo123: What is your team called? ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really kewl. GoTo123: Did you pitch? ByAngel213: No I play second base. Hey, I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye! GoTo123: Catch you later.
Bye
Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the seventh grade at the Canton Junior High School. She had told him all this in the conversations they had on-line. He had enough information to find
her now. Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on
the way home from the ball park that day. She didn't want them
to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball
games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the
worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe
if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so
overprotective. Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car. Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until it was time to make his move. Shannon was in her room later that
evening when she heard voices in the living room. "Shannon,
come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she
couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man
from the ballpark sitting on the sofa. "Sit down," her father
began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about
you." Shannon moved cautiously to a chair across from the man.
How could he tell her parents anything? She That night Shannon and her dad and Mom all knelt down together and prayed. They thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation. ******************************************* PLEASE FORWARD THIS (EVEN TO THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE KIDS) SO THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS WHO MIGHT. ******************************************* To report an incident online: www.missingkids.org For additional information: www.childrenspartnership.org/ Also at this web site: Protecting Children Online
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