One may ask themselves, “Why did I have to go through something so horrible?” after encountering an event that changes their lives forever. Though it may not make sense at the time, or even maybe a while after, some day, they realize how important it was for their life to go through what they did. It almost makes it seem like it was their responsibility to “bear witness” to that specific event. That is exactly what Allie told me after she told me the story she felt that she “bore witness to”.
It was a beautiful, cool night on September 17, 2005. Allie and her best friend, Andrea Zugina, were enjoying their sleepover that night. They were playing games and were up quite late talking about various things going on in their lives. At around 2 am, Allie had a fun idea. She told Andrea that they should go for a “midnight stroll” around the park near Andrea’s house. Andrea thought that was a great idea, and so they snuck out of the house shortly after.
They were shoving each other and giggling as they were sneaking out, this would be a night to remember. Andrea and Allie were so excited to be sneaking out of the house late at night. They felt as though they were rebels, and they loved it. Neither of them had snuck out so late at night before and they both couldn’t wait to goof around at the park.
As they were walking toward the park, they started talking about some serious issues that were taking place in their lives. Allie always felt that she could always open up to Andrea and tell her anything, and Andrea felt the same about Allie. After walking a few blocks, they finally reached their destination. It was so exciting! Their adrenaline was on a high and they started running around on the playground. Allie got tired of running, so she sat down on a swing and started swinging. Shortly after, Andrea joined her and they had a contest to see who could swing the highest. Andrea and Allie always had the best of times together, and tonight was especially fun.
After being at the park for about an hour, at 3:15 am, they both decided they were getting tired out and should head back to Andrea’s house. On their way back, Allie was having fun teasing Andrea about how she was so paranoid because she kept hearing noises behind them. Soon though, the noises got louder, as though someone or something was walking behind them. But, neither of them could see anything, or anyone, behind them. Not seeing anything and still hearing the noises made Allie nervous, so she started walking faster and Andrea kept up with her pace. Something bad was going to happen, Allie just knew it, and they were only a couple blocks away.
The next thing Allie knew, she was being grabbed from behind. Someone put his or her hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream. She could not see who grabbed her, but he or she was dragging her somewhere. Allie knew exactly where to, back to the park. Feeling helpless in this horrible and scary situation, Allie decided it was hopeless and gave up fighting.
Allie and her attacker finally reached the park, and he made her sit up against a tree and tied her up. Allie looked to her right and saw Andrea tied up to a tree right next to her. The short conversation they had was in hushed tones, so the two attackers could not hear them. Andrea was the first to speak, “Allie, I’m really freaked out! What do we do?”
“Just whatever you do, don’t scream. I felt my attacker holding a gun to my back as he tied me up. I wouldn’t put it past them to have it loaded…”
“But we GOTTA get out of here! Who knows what they plan to do to us.”
Before Allie could say anything in response, Andrea started screaming. The two people, and it was then obvious they were men, came over and slapped Andrea across the face. The taller one said, “If you don’t shut up and behave, you won’t like what we do to you.” But that didn’t stop Andrea, and she screamed again, but a louder and higher pitched scream. Allie was terrified!
Allie had no time to react and tell her friend to stop being stupid. In a matter of seconds, Andrea had three bullets in her head and the blood was spilling everywhere around her. Allie was mortified; she did not know how to react. She could not scream, because they would do the same thing to her, and she did not want her brains splattered all over the ground and on the tree she was tied to. The two men came up to her, and surprisingly untied her from the tree. The taller one said to her in a harsh tone, “Hurry up and scat! I’m sure someone has called the cops from hearing my stupid partner’s mistake in shooting your friend. LEAVE NOW!” Allie did not have to be told twice and she ran as far as her legs took her.
After running all the way back to her house, she collapsed on the ground and starting crying. What was she to tell her parents and her other friends? How could she tell Andrea’s parents and brother? She was shaking all over and was trying to catch her breath. Allie sat in front of her house for what seemed like hours, but it was only for about thirty minutes. Finally she decided to go inside and sleep. The next morning was going to be a tough one. Boy were she and Andrea right, this was definitely a night that she was going to remember...forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment