Never Trust Strangers

"When I was around 8, a man approached me in a busy park and asked if I wanted to come see his pet dog."

"He was pointing to a wooded area to the side of the park."

"I now know that in that woods is an abandoned rail line."

"Luckily I had enough common sense to say no and run to an adult."

"I shudder to think what could have happened now."- foxfaced95

You Meet All Kinds Of People At A Bus Stop

"I once was at a bus station in the morning, waiting for the bus that would take me to University."

"I was looking straight ahead when I felt a huge pain in my ear."

"I turned around and realized a guy had just punched me on the ear."

"I looked at him and the look in his eyes was terrifying."

"He was like on drugs or something."

"Never met the guy."

"I screamed 'what the f*ck?'"

"And then something unrealistic happened: a bus pulled over (not mine) and the driver who must have witnessed the scene hopped off, told the guy 'you don’t hit girls!' and jumped on him to fight."

"I was shocked."

"The bus I was supposed to take arrived and I ran inside."- elratoncitohermoso

The World We Live In

"For context, I live in Lebanon."

"The scariest day of my life was August 4, 2020."

"Let me explain."

"So it was about 6:00 PM, and I was walking to the living room to watch TV."

"(I was about 13 at the time) Then, the ground started shaking."

"I thought it was in my head. because I always get randomly dizzy. "

"So I held onto the wall, and the wall was asking to."

"I then screamed to alert mother and sister (my father was at work) and then all hell broke loose."

"I hear a loud explosion sound that rang in my ears, and a carpet hit me in the face."

"I look outside and see a huge purple cloud of smoke."

"Turns out I had just witnessed one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions to have been recorded."

"Killed over 200 people, 7,000 injured, and 300,000 left homeless."- jshayya184

It Happens More Often Than We Realize

'I once witnessed a police shootout directly across the street from me."

"I remember my girlfriend at the time not having the good sense to duck out of the way so I had to grab her and drag her to the ground then into a doorway to stay out of the line of fire."- Factsaretheonlytruth

What A Tragedy

Was out for a walk with my family when a drive-by happened a few doors down."

"No one in the house was hurt, but an old man was jogging on the sidewalk and was killed by the shooting."

"Wrong place, wrong time."- EdithWhartonsFarts

Nightmares Come To Life

"When I was probably around 7 or 8 I had an overwhelming fear of being kidnapped to the point where I’d duck down in the backseat of the car so that anyone passing us wouldn’t see me."

"Yeah I know."

"So one day my brother and I rode with my mom to the bank to deposit some checks or whatever else she had to do."

"I was scared sh*tless of somebody opening up the car door and grabbing me."

"This older dude pulls up next to us, gets out of his car, and proceeds to walk over to cup his hands on the window to look into the car."

'I about sh*t my pants."- rkcorinth

So Many Questions

"I was out back at work smoking a cigarette and this spray-painted van rolled up right next to me asking if we were gonna use some paint cans left over from the remodel."

"When he rolled down his window I saw that he too was completely covered in spray paint."

"I told him I didn’t know if he could take them and I started walking away and the dude in the van followed right next to me with his door open talking to me and I freaked and f*cking ran."- devilshibata

Why You NEVER Play on Train Tracks

"So when I was 12, me and my friends thought it would be epic to climb up the side of a stopped train and go to the top."

"Once we got up there we gazed amongst the clouds, starred onto the city scapes, it felt so high up."

"Our hearts raced as we jumped over the 4 foot gaps in between train carts, we were high on life."

"My friends were in front of me jumping between carts, and suddenly as I was mid-air, the train jolted forward causing me to miss my jump and come crashing down tumbling in-between the train carts."

"I don't remember much about the fall, all I remember was that I smashed my head against something and then woke up moments later confused and in so much pain."

"So there I was, massive headache, confused as hell, under a slow but moving train, the under belly of the train just scraping against my back."

"I start to crawl my way out of the first space of the two carts but I realize I don't have time so I lay there contemplating whether I can crawl in-between the wheels of the length of the cart."

"I cant, it's too narrow, so I wait for the 2nd space in-between the next two carts for what felt like a life time."

"My heart was racing so fast, I was feeling light headed, I was in shock."

"As it approaches I start crawling, at this point the train is picking up speed so either I go now or I stay and pray to god nothing catches onto me and rips me to shreds."

"The opening approaches and I crawl over the rails. As I stumble over the rails I see the massive train wheel inches away from my legs."

"I made it out just barely."

"So close that the wheel caught my shoe and tore it up."

"But it wasn't over."

"After getting out from under the train, I take a deep breath of relief and stare up to the sky thinking 'holy f*ck I almost died'."

"Then I hear a loud horn, flip over and looked to my right."

"There was another oncoming train."

"There was another set of tracks."

"I realized I couldn't get up in time because of how fast that train was approaching, so I had no choice but to lay in the middle of the two trains and hope to god nothing bad happened."

"Scariest 5 minutes of my life."- mvfsullivan

Evaded Kidnapping

"Someone tried to pull me into his car in Broad daylight in Southampton."- TheToyGirl

ALWAYS Tell Your Parents. ALWAYS.

"Got harassed by a grown man when I was 13."

"My local Wal-Mart used to have a McDonald's and my mom let me borrow her debit card to go and get a snack."

"I ordered and paid, this man, probably 40s, came up to the counter, smiled at me."

"I sort of ignored him."

"I had my mom's debit card in my hand and my hand resting on the counter."

"Her debit card had her photo on the back of it."

"He reached over and rotated my wrist and said, 'you look a lot younger in real life than in your photo'."

"I didn't know what to do so I stared at him and he chuckled at me, all the time holding me by the wrist."

"He grinned at me and said, 'what, do don't want to talk? You just want to eat? You like burgers?"

"Again, I was so scared I couldn't move, couldn't react."

"He was holding me by the wrist."

"So I just stared at him. He kept smirking and chuckling at me. "

"Then his friend came over and joined him, asked what he was doing. "

"Guy 1 says, 'trying to have a conversation with my young friend here but she doesn't seem very interested'."

"Guy 2 looked at me, looked at his friend holding me by the wrist...and he laughed. Said I obviously had good taste to ignore his friend."

"The whole time this is happening we're standing at the counter of this McDonalds and no one even noticed."

"Not one person saw a scared pre-teen girl being literally clutched by a grown man, kept in place by two."

"Finally my order was placed on the counter and I took the bag."

"The first man still hadn't let me go. "

"I told him, 'my mom is waiting, I have to go now'."

"And he tightened his grip."

"I was looking around, trying to find a way to be helped."

"I had lost my voice."

"I couldn't speak."

"I was so scared."

"And then I saw my mom through the crowd and called out for her."

"Guy 1 let go of me at once and he and his friend walked off."

"I ran to my mom."

"I didn't tell her what happened."

"I never have."

"I don't know why."- carmelacorleone

Always stay alert, no matter where you are, or the time of day.

Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.