I was a mischievous little girl. Luckily.

I was an eleven year old girl when this happened. At that point in my life I already had the uncomfortable feeling like I was being followed/stalked/harassed somehow. We lived on a farm where there are a lot of things to be done outside. So I was mostly outside, and felt like I was being watched.<br><br>I don't know if this was true or if I imagined it. <br>One evening I was walking through the yard with my little sister from the front of the house to the back of the house. Between the houses, where you have no way of seeing what's on the other side of the houses until you're standing in our backyard, is where I saw a man standing. He had his back turned to me, but it was disturbing since no one walked that route and there were no houses connected to our yard. He was literally just standing on our property.<br><br>I quickly, and quietly grabbed my sister and stepped backward, while holding my finger to my lips so she wouldn't make any noise. Luckily she was smart enough to be quiet as well. <br>We went back into the house, and told my mom. She didn't think much of it, but just in case went outside to check. I'm really glad she did. Outside was a police car. With two police officers standing next to it, looking for the man. I told them the direction we saw him walking in, but they already had an idea of where he'd gone, since they were on their way to a recently reported missing persons case in our neighborhood. <br><br>I often think about what my life would be like if I had been stupid enough to say "hi" or talk to the man that was standing there, or what life would have been like if my mother would have written it off as a scared child, and I thank both of us for being brilliant.