The Stalker (Short Story)
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| A Fountain in a small lake |
I was traveling through Canada and was looking for a city to stay for a few months to write my new novel. Most people would pick a large city like Toronto or Vancouver or even Edmonton. However, I needed a city that was less traveled and more rural. I felt like Golden, British Columbia was a perfect fit but along the way I came across a prairie city and decided to make an impromptu stay there.
The city had a central man made lake that was not busy and had sidewalks and benches all around its parameter. I fell in love with the beautiful scenery and the capital building located on the shore of the lake.I found a monthly rental property within walking distance and signed a four month lease. I walked to the lake in the early morning and wrote my book while sitting on a bench or in the grass facing the east. The sunrise over the prairie lake was beautiful and amazing. Without mountains or hills the sun rise lasted almost half an hour. The warm June air made it the perfect getaway.
During my walks to the lake I passed by the city university and a partly secluded area that was surrounded by trees. Some mornings I would pass joggers on the path while other mornings I wouldn't see a soul until I made it to the lake. The whole way was paved sidewalks and I never felt uneasy or scared walking alone in the early morning. It was actually calming and the joggers I did see always greeted me and said good morning. The days were long and my book was coming along great. The beautiful scenery and small wildlife helped mold my mind into the writing of the book.
About two weeks into my stay I had become so ready for my writing sessions that I naturally woke up and didn't even need an alarm to wake me up in the morning. It was amazing I was ahead of schedule and thinking about writing my novel as a two or three part series. I usually didn't eat anything in the morning and just drank some coffee or tea to pep myself up. The city had some great restaurants that I would visit after completing my writing session. The whole atmosphere was perfect for an author and no problems had arose.
In early July the city was hit with the first rain shower since I moved there. It put a damper on my plans so I spent the morning in my flat reading the newspaper and making some homemade pancakes. For the last month I had essentially just spent all my mornings writing and the afternoons relaxing in restaurants and coffee shops. With my day free because of the rain I went to the library and read up on the history of the area. It wasn't an old city and most of the trees in the city were actually planted by hand rather than being native to the area.
The rain stopped and I went out the next day to continue writing my book. The secluded area on the way to the lake seemed like a rain forest as the rain remnants were still littered all over the over hanging trees and greenery. I felt a little uneasy crossing through the area as it felt as if it changed somehow and that I was almost being watched or stalked by something. I knew it wasn't true as the area hadn't changed and it was safe for the last month. Joggers were out in force today as they probably were differed the day before by the rain also.
I got to my normal writing place where there was a bench, a table, and an open piece of grass. I decided to sit at the table today as the grass was still wet from the rain. I got into my writing session and felt okay but out of nowhere I felt a cool chill. It was July and the weather was great so I jolted up to see a man in his mid thirties staring at me. He looked at me and said nothing. I asked him what he was doing and the man snarled at me and left. I was shaken by the interaction but it was a public place and people could've of done this before and I just missed it while I was writing.
I continued writing and left at my normal time. The walk back to my house was uneventful and the secluded area seemed normal again. I ate at my favourite restaurant in the city so far. It was a steak house. I liked to order a prime steak with fries and a coke. I ate the meal and looked at the news. The city wasn't dangerous by any means but there were constant crimes like break ins and robberies. They seemed to be centered around one part of the city. This part of the city was four kilometers away from my rental and about two from the lake. Anyways it was apparent that all towns and cities have good and bad people.
That night the sun set at its normal time and I had a long warm bath and listened to my favourite music. I had almost finished half of my novel and at this point if I kept up with my current pace I might be able to submit the finished product in two months to the publisher and have some free time to explore the city before escaping to a bigger if not better city. The small city was cozy but after awhile it seemed that everything was ordinary and boring. This was actually what had lead to my book being ahead of schedule. The flat hill less prairie was intriguing for about a month now it was nothing more than an eye soar.
After my bath I turned out the lights and watched an early evening movie. It was an old nineties comedy starring the usual suspects and involved the main character chasing the girl of his dreams only to be stood up in the end. It gave me a few laughs but wasn't a great as my nostalgia led me to believe. Once the movie was finished I had a cup of tea and relaxed while reading a classic novel. Then I went to my bedroom and closed the door. My bedroom window faced a park that was open and treeless. Across the park were apartments and the whole area was well lit and the July night was average.
I was awakened in the night by a shaking at my window. It sounded like someone was trying to gain access to my residence through my room window. In shock I didn't move but I eventually grabbed a knife from beside my bed and pulled open the curtains. I was confronted with a figure who took off running once the curtains had moved. The person was wearing a hoodie and blue jeans. I never got a good look at the person but I went into my living room and checked my windows. I knew that making a report was futile as nothing was broken and nothing had been stolen.
The next morning I exited my rental outside of the side door that faced apartments rather than the park. I was still in shock from the encounter at my window but wouldn't let it ruin my schedule. For all I knew it could of been a person who confused his residence with mine. The walk to the lake was normal and I actually calmed down from the night before. The weather was hot and windless perfect for writing. I sat on the grass and began to write my novel, it was coming along great and the main characters were progressing well. I kept looking up to nothing except small animals or passing by joggers. However, my paranoia set in and I felt that I was always being watched by a person standing in front of me.
After I finished my writing session I decided to follow the sidewalk along the lake and walk around the lake. The whole lake was about four kilometers and the side walk made a circle around it. I had walked the path maybe three or four times before but not in the last two weeks. The path was cracked but paved the whole way. I watched the pelicans swim in the lake and the squirrels climb the trees. I zoned out for awhile and didn't realize that someone was walking right towards me. I collided with the person and fell sideways onto the grass. It was the same man who had watched me before.
He snarled at me and looked like he was going to pull a knife on me. I backed up and realized that he was going to pull a knife on me so I got up and started to run. The man followed in suit but couldn't catch me and I made it to a side road. The man quit chasing me and disappeared into the trees beside the lake. I went to the authorities and they took my report and told me to keep in touch. I took a taxi back to my house and immediately locked the door. I had to look at my cards and decide whether to stay here or move to a new city.
I decided that I would stay out my lease and then move to a new city far away. My novel was ahead of schedule and I couldn't let one bad person ruin my stride. I decided that I would walk around the lake one time before going to my spot to make sure I wasn't being watched or followed. I set out the next morning at my regular time and the walk felt normal. I walked around the lake halfway when I noticed that the guy had been following me. He didn't bother me but was keeping pace with me.
I was going to go to the open park space and sit on a bench so numerous people would be in view of my follower and I. I approached the open area and sat down at the closest bench that was open. The man following me sat down two benches past me and pretended to ignore me but I felt he was side viewing my activities. I couldn't really do anything because I hadn't been attacked or confronted. I got up and walked the opposite way back towards the secluded area. This was going to end today I couldn't be harassed daily by the same person.
I walked at that was faster than normal and didn't look back to see if I was being followed. I wasn't about to provoke this guy or give him any ammunition to say I made him do what he was doing. I made good time and passed a few joggers along the way to forest path. At the boundary I made a quick glance back and seen the man about ten paces behind me. He stopped in his tracks and smiled a creepy smile like a deranged animal. I went into the forest and stopped. The man walked up to me and growled. The guy then dropped a picture and laughed it was my picture.
The guy had obviously been stalking me and had been taking pictures of me. He then said "how is your window doing?". I stepped back in shock this guy knew where I lived and probably had been watching me since I moved here. I hadn't noticed him watching me. I was completely covered in goosebumps and wondered what else he knew about me. He pulled a knife out and pushed it to my chest. He said "Lets take a walk to your place." To my shock there were no joggers around and I felt if I screamed he would stab me.
We went off the sidewalk and walked through the forest until the trees ended. It was about a two block walk to my house. The man said "No funny business or I'll stab you." We walked up to my rental and never passed anyone along the way. It was like we were the only two people in the city as if the place was abandoned and a desolate land of cars and apartments. We went up to my door and I opened the door and entered my flat.
The man smiled and motioned me to sit down. I went to my dining table pulled out a chair and sat down. He started looking around my flat like there was something of interest he wanted. I sat in silence while he eyed up my home. He had the knife in his hand and I was waiting for an opportunity to catch him off guard and disarms him. I wasn't restrained and could see that the guy was losing interest in me and fascinated by my place.
The man looked out my window and I charged him and the knife went flying across the room as the man slammed his head against the floor. I had started punching him and pushed him towards my wall. There was a blind string hanging down the wall and I got the string around his arms and managed to tie his arms with is arms out of commission I grabbed the blind string from the other window that was hanging and tied his feet. I went to the knife and picked it up and eyed it.
I hadn't seen this knife since I wrote my last novel. I lost it and thought I would never see it again. This guy had been following me for months if not years. Now I felt extremely violated and had a sickness in my stomach. The man was lying on the ground laughing even though he was completely incapacitated. At this point I called the authorities and told them what had happened. During the time it took them to arrive at my place the man was mumbling and rambling. Once the authorities arrived they took the man away and let me keep the knife surprisingly.
The next few days I was pretty shaken up but I eventually got back into my routine and my life got back to normal. I finished my novel ahead of schedule and sent it to the publisher. I spent the last weeks looking at the lake and walking downtown. The man was charged and was sentenced to a mental hospital he had been following me and was obsessed with my novels. His plans were to kidnap me and make me give him my current novel which he was going to publish under his name.
The whole story is pretty messed up but I survived my stalker ordeal. After my lease was up I decided to move to south america and relax for awhile. I then moved back to western Canada. My next novel will be great it involves a stalker and a novelist...
<This is an original story created by me and no part can be recreated without written permission>
During my walks to the lake I passed by the city university and a partly secluded area that was surrounded by trees. Some mornings I would pass joggers on the path while other mornings I wouldn't see a soul until I made it to the lake. The whole way was paved sidewalks and I never felt uneasy or scared walking alone in the early morning. It was actually calming and the joggers I did see always greeted me and said good morning. The days were long and my book was coming along great. The beautiful scenery and small wildlife helped mold my mind into the writing of the book.
About two weeks into my stay I had become so ready for my writing sessions that I naturally woke up and didn't even need an alarm to wake me up in the morning. It was amazing I was ahead of schedule and thinking about writing my novel as a two or three part series. I usually didn't eat anything in the morning and just drank some coffee or tea to pep myself up. The city had some great restaurants that I would visit after completing my writing session. The whole atmosphere was perfect for an author and no problems had arose.
In early July the city was hit with the first rain shower since I moved there. It put a damper on my plans so I spent the morning in my flat reading the newspaper and making some homemade pancakes. For the last month I had essentially just spent all my mornings writing and the afternoons relaxing in restaurants and coffee shops. With my day free because of the rain I went to the library and read up on the history of the area. It wasn't an old city and most of the trees in the city were actually planted by hand rather than being native to the area.
The rain stopped and I went out the next day to continue writing my book. The secluded area on the way to the lake seemed like a rain forest as the rain remnants were still littered all over the over hanging trees and greenery. I felt a little uneasy crossing through the area as it felt as if it changed somehow and that I was almost being watched or stalked by something. I knew it wasn't true as the area hadn't changed and it was safe for the last month. Joggers were out in force today as they probably were differed the day before by the rain also.
I got to my normal writing place where there was a bench, a table, and an open piece of grass. I decided to sit at the table today as the grass was still wet from the rain. I got into my writing session and felt okay but out of nowhere I felt a cool chill. It was July and the weather was great so I jolted up to see a man in his mid thirties staring at me. He looked at me and said nothing. I asked him what he was doing and the man snarled at me and left. I was shaken by the interaction but it was a public place and people could've of done this before and I just missed it while I was writing.
I continued writing and left at my normal time. The walk back to my house was uneventful and the secluded area seemed normal again. I ate at my favourite restaurant in the city so far. It was a steak house. I liked to order a prime steak with fries and a coke. I ate the meal and looked at the news. The city wasn't dangerous by any means but there were constant crimes like break ins and robberies. They seemed to be centered around one part of the city. This part of the city was four kilometers away from my rental and about two from the lake. Anyways it was apparent that all towns and cities have good and bad people.
That night the sun set at its normal time and I had a long warm bath and listened to my favourite music. I had almost finished half of my novel and at this point if I kept up with my current pace I might be able to submit the finished product in two months to the publisher and have some free time to explore the city before escaping to a bigger if not better city. The small city was cozy but after awhile it seemed that everything was ordinary and boring. This was actually what had lead to my book being ahead of schedule. The flat hill less prairie was intriguing for about a month now it was nothing more than an eye soar.
After my bath I turned out the lights and watched an early evening movie. It was an old nineties comedy starring the usual suspects and involved the main character chasing the girl of his dreams only to be stood up in the end. It gave me a few laughs but wasn't a great as my nostalgia led me to believe. Once the movie was finished I had a cup of tea and relaxed while reading a classic novel. Then I went to my bedroom and closed the door. My bedroom window faced a park that was open and treeless. Across the park were apartments and the whole area was well lit and the July night was average.
I was awakened in the night by a shaking at my window. It sounded like someone was trying to gain access to my residence through my room window. In shock I didn't move but I eventually grabbed a knife from beside my bed and pulled open the curtains. I was confronted with a figure who took off running once the curtains had moved. The person was wearing a hoodie and blue jeans. I never got a good look at the person but I went into my living room and checked my windows. I knew that making a report was futile as nothing was broken and nothing had been stolen.
The next morning I exited my rental outside of the side door that faced apartments rather than the park. I was still in shock from the encounter at my window but wouldn't let it ruin my schedule. For all I knew it could of been a person who confused his residence with mine. The walk to the lake was normal and I actually calmed down from the night before. The weather was hot and windless perfect for writing. I sat on the grass and began to write my novel, it was coming along great and the main characters were progressing well. I kept looking up to nothing except small animals or passing by joggers. However, my paranoia set in and I felt that I was always being watched by a person standing in front of me.
After I finished my writing session I decided to follow the sidewalk along the lake and walk around the lake. The whole lake was about four kilometers and the side walk made a circle around it. I had walked the path maybe three or four times before but not in the last two weeks. The path was cracked but paved the whole way. I watched the pelicans swim in the lake and the squirrels climb the trees. I zoned out for awhile and didn't realize that someone was walking right towards me. I collided with the person and fell sideways onto the grass. It was the same man who had watched me before.
He snarled at me and looked like he was going to pull a knife on me. I backed up and realized that he was going to pull a knife on me so I got up and started to run. The man followed in suit but couldn't catch me and I made it to a side road. The man quit chasing me and disappeared into the trees beside the lake. I went to the authorities and they took my report and told me to keep in touch. I took a taxi back to my house and immediately locked the door. I had to look at my cards and decide whether to stay here or move to a new city.
I decided that I would stay out my lease and then move to a new city far away. My novel was ahead of schedule and I couldn't let one bad person ruin my stride. I decided that I would walk around the lake one time before going to my spot to make sure I wasn't being watched or followed. I set out the next morning at my regular time and the walk felt normal. I walked around the lake halfway when I noticed that the guy had been following me. He didn't bother me but was keeping pace with me.
I was going to go to the open park space and sit on a bench so numerous people would be in view of my follower and I. I approached the open area and sat down at the closest bench that was open. The man following me sat down two benches past me and pretended to ignore me but I felt he was side viewing my activities. I couldn't really do anything because I hadn't been attacked or confronted. I got up and walked the opposite way back towards the secluded area. This was going to end today I couldn't be harassed daily by the same person.
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| The Secluded Path |
I walked at that was faster than normal and didn't look back to see if I was being followed. I wasn't about to provoke this guy or give him any ammunition to say I made him do what he was doing. I made good time and passed a few joggers along the way to forest path. At the boundary I made a quick glance back and seen the man about ten paces behind me. He stopped in his tracks and smiled a creepy smile like a deranged animal. I went into the forest and stopped. The man walked up to me and growled. The guy then dropped a picture and laughed it was my picture.
The guy had obviously been stalking me and had been taking pictures of me. He then said "how is your window doing?". I stepped back in shock this guy knew where I lived and probably had been watching me since I moved here. I hadn't noticed him watching me. I was completely covered in goosebumps and wondered what else he knew about me. He pulled a knife out and pushed it to my chest. He said "Lets take a walk to your place." To my shock there were no joggers around and I felt if I screamed he would stab me.
We went off the sidewalk and walked through the forest until the trees ended. It was about a two block walk to my house. The man said "No funny business or I'll stab you." We walked up to my rental and never passed anyone along the way. It was like we were the only two people in the city as if the place was abandoned and a desolate land of cars and apartments. We went up to my door and I opened the door and entered my flat.
The man smiled and motioned me to sit down. I went to my dining table pulled out a chair and sat down. He started looking around my flat like there was something of interest he wanted. I sat in silence while he eyed up my home. He had the knife in his hand and I was waiting for an opportunity to catch him off guard and disarms him. I wasn't restrained and could see that the guy was losing interest in me and fascinated by my place.
The man looked out my window and I charged him and the knife went flying across the room as the man slammed his head against the floor. I had started punching him and pushed him towards my wall. There was a blind string hanging down the wall and I got the string around his arms and managed to tie his arms with is arms out of commission I grabbed the blind string from the other window that was hanging and tied his feet. I went to the knife and picked it up and eyed it.
I hadn't seen this knife since I wrote my last novel. I lost it and thought I would never see it again. This guy had been following me for months if not years. Now I felt extremely violated and had a sickness in my stomach. The man was lying on the ground laughing even though he was completely incapacitated. At this point I called the authorities and told them what had happened. During the time it took them to arrive at my place the man was mumbling and rambling. Once the authorities arrived they took the man away and let me keep the knife surprisingly.
The next few days I was pretty shaken up but I eventually got back into my routine and my life got back to normal. I finished my novel ahead of schedule and sent it to the publisher. I spent the last weeks looking at the lake and walking downtown. The man was charged and was sentenced to a mental hospital he had been following me and was obsessed with my novels. His plans were to kidnap me and make me give him my current novel which he was going to publish under his name.
The whole story is pretty messed up but I survived my stalker ordeal. After my lease was up I decided to move to south america and relax for awhile. I then moved back to western Canada. My next novel will be great it involves a stalker and a novelist...
<This is an original story created by me and no part can be recreated without written permission>
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