Tanya Ashworth/AZ, CO

DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW WHERE YOU ARE? Part Two

The big city makes me uncomfortable. Always has.

My girlfriend, Cheryl, begged me to join her at a religious seminar being held in Denver. The word “Denver” was all I needed to hear to be able to respond with a resounding “No!”

But she kept insisting. It was a seminar by one of those self-based religions that ignore Christ and focus on self. “Why,” I thought, “would I want to go to that?” But we were young and did dumb things so I said, “Oh, why not?”

At the seminar there were somewhere around 300 to 400 people seated in a circular pattern. I had no interest in the program but what I did find extremely intriguing was to watch the faces of those in attendance. It intrigued me how they soaked in the words and bought into the presented “truths.”

One particular man in the crowd stood out. For some reason he did not seem to fit in with the rest. He was different from the others. I could tell by his expression that he was not interested in the program. “But,” I thought, “why? What makes him unique compared to all the others?”

If I had to compare him to someone, the closest comparison would be a young version of the actor Denzel Washington. He appeared to have a gentle nature, walked with confidence and was sure about himself and the world around him. He was about the same weight, build and good looks as Denzel. He also had the same skin color. For convenience I will refer to him as DW. I was later to learn that I was the only person that was able to see him. He had an assignment to do here on earth and it involved me.

Three weeks passed and my girlfriend called again asking me to join her at another one of those weird seminars. This time I said, “No” and was not going to let her change my mind. What she was able to do was to convince me to come and visit her in Denver and stay with her overnight. She would attend the meeting and then we would spend the rest of the night sharing girl talk. So I made the trip to Denver.

While Cheryl was at her seminar I was alone in a big uncomfortable, unknown, old two story house which Cheryl shared with several other roommates. What made it worse was that the house was in the middle of downtown Denver and no one was home. It was just me. That was it. Oh, yes, there was also a sleepy dog in the house.

The house was in a state of disarray as all of the roommates were in the process of moving out. The half-packed boxes and the house being void of furniture only added to the sense of uneasiness.

Being there all alone in the dark of night put my comfort zone into the “anxiety” level. I left my “one door getaway exit” opened and locked up everything else. I spent the time waiting for Cheryl to return home by playing the piano, the only piece of furniture in the entire house. My ears stayed attentive to every noise made in that creaky old house. My stress level was pretty intense at that moment. That was when I looked up from the piano and saw him standing there. The man was unbuckling his pants and the look in his eyes clearly communicated that he was there to do me harm.

(This story continues in “Does Your Mother Know Where You Are?” Part Three)