Intentions

We're his intentions as innocent as he made them out to be

It was September of 2018. My school had taken our year group on a overseas trip to France. To add some context, there were 8 teachers on this trip and each teacher was assigned a group of students just in case they got into an difficulty (about 4 of the teachers were fluent in French).

So, I was with my three other friends who'll I'll call E, A and O (I'm not 100% sure they'd be comfortable with me sharing this). On the third day we were in France we took a trip to the Sacré Coeur, if you don't already know the Sacre Coeur is a huge Cathedral on the other side of the River Seine, which is surrounded by a labyrinth of small 'hole in the wall' shops, market stalls and cafés. We were expressly told do not get separated from your group as the area is rife with pick-pockets. Of course, my friends and I didn't listen and slipped away from the group and went about exploring the shops.

We were talking to a lady selling scarves when E pointed out there was a man looking at us. I turn round to look in the direction she was telling me she was the man. I look round and there was a man standing in the doorway of one of the small cafés. He was in his mid 40's with a head of unkempt black hair and a scraggly beard. He didn't look particularly intimidating but to three 12-year-old girls we were sufficiently intimidated so we walked further into the crowd, and further away from our group. After some more looking around my friends A and O wanted to go to a stall and get crépés. In the hussle and bustle of the market place I got separated from E, who didn't get a crépé. I was completely alone in a seedy backstreet of Paris, but surprisingly I was not frightened I just figured I'd wait for E here and if need be I'd phone her. I had been waiting maybe 5 minutes when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the man that E had first pointed out. Up close he was very sweaty and wore a big dirty trench coat. In broken English he explained that my teacher had sent him to bring my friends and I back to the group.

Now, I was 12 but I was not stupid. 'Stranger Danger' has been drilled into me since before I could remember and my heart dropped into my stomach. I explained in French as best as I could that I was waiting for my friends, and we didn't need help as firmly and loudly as I could so al least someone knew that I was talking to this man. When I did this, his nostrils flared and his face contorted into an ugly frown. He took my wrist and said 'No. You come with me. I take you to somewhere else'. I began to scream as his iron grip tightened around my wrist as he began to lead me away further down the alleyway. I was screaming and kicking when a miracle happened: my teacher was running down the alley shouting in French with A, O and E in tow who had obviously been caught after sneaking away from the group. When the man saw her, he let go of me and fled around a corner.

I was asked a lot of questions about what happened and thoroughly yelled at for putting myself in danger. My parents were called and I had to tell them every minute detail. When I got back I was punished for disobeying the rules but my parents also were glad he didn't 'do' anything to me.

I still wonder what that man was planning to do to me, if it was me he was originally looking for or if he saw us sneak away from our group. What I do know is that if my teacher was 10 seconds later, who knows where I would be today. Let me know what you think of my experience!