You have taken away my piece of mind.  You have invaded my life with an action that took less than five minutes.  I'll bet you don't even remember attacking me, but I will never forget.  My life is forever changed.

I don't remember what you look like.  Do you remember me?  Around 2:00 a.m., I was walking to my Capitol Hill home after parking my car.   I was walking up Olive Way when I saw you and your friend driving by.  You were slowing down, and I figured you for a couple of assholes who were going to verbally harass me and drive off.  When the car stopped and you got out, my heart started to pound.

You were standing between me and my home.  There was nowhere for me to go.  I tried to remember all of the self-defense hints I'd been told.  I remember being unbelievably calm.  I decided to walk down the center of the road, thinking you'd be less likely to bother me there.  I tried to walk past you but you got in my face and said, "I want to talk to you."  I yelled, "No!" and walked past you .  You ran in front of me and got in my face again, "Hey, I wanna talk to you."  I screamed, "NO!" for a second time.  This time as I started to walk away, you grabbed me from behind.

You had both of my arms, I couldn't move.  I thought, "He's going to kill me!"  I wasn't going to die without a struggle.  You started to drag me to the side of the road and I let out a blood-curdling scream.  I was surprised I could make sounds because in my dreams I can never make a noise when I'm in danger.  I'm tall, and you were having trouble dragging me, so you put me down for a second to get a better grip.  As soon as my feet touched the pavement, I ran like hell.

I was three doors from my home so I didn't have far to run.  I was petrified that you were right behind me.  I had my keys in my hand, ready to unlock the front door.  Right before I got to the door, I turned to see if you were following me.  You were still standing in the same spot, laughing.

Do you remember me now?  I was in terror and you were laughing.

I was frightened by your casual demeanor.  Is this something you do all the time?  If I had a gun, I would have shot you.  I will never forget the terror of my shaking hands trying to unlock the front door, and you standing in the middle of the road, laughing.  Nothing since has made me as angry.

What exactly were you planning on doing that night?  Was your friend in the car circling the block and coming back for you?  Were you going to kidnap me?  Rape me?  Beat me?  Kill me?  How many other women have you done this to?  How many of them never made it home?  Who gave you the right to ruin lives?

Did you know that the police asked me repeatedly if you were my boyfriend?  Over and over, they kept on asking, "Are you sure this guy isn't your boyfriend?"  I guess they just didn't want to believe that random acts of violence happen.

Before I was attacked, I wondered whether, if the victim had only been more cautious, they would have been okay.  Now I know better.  Random acts of violence happen through no fault of the victim.  You and I both know that.