A Run From Terror

A Run From Terror

“Do you know where your son, Richard, is?” It was my brother in-law, Jimmy on the line and I was a little annoyed that he didn’t ask how I was or something.

Without trying to show the annoyance in my voice, I answered. “Yes… I do know where Richie is. He’s just outside playing with the other kids. Why? Do you want me to call him to the phone?”

“Well, I have news for you” was his smug reply. “You won’t find him outside. Your son is sitting right here with us in my kitchen.”

“What?" I stammered. "That can’t be! How did he get to your house? That’s 12 miles away.”

Then my brother in-law explained that Richie was riding his bicycle around the neighborhood when a man on a motorcycle started chasing him and followed him wherever he went. Richie would quickly turn into a block and the motorcyclist would keep behind him. So Richie kept going and wound up at my sister’s house in W. Sayville.

At this point, I called out to my husband who was about to sit down to dinner and motioned for him to come to the telephone. He took the receiver out of my hand and Jimmy repeated what happened to Richie. Jimmy said that they called the authorities and, after filing the report a search was made in and around their neighborhood, but, of course, the motorcycle and the man were no where to be seen.

So dinner was put on hold and my husband drove to my sister’s house to bring Richie back. When they both returned home, I could see the relief on my husband’s face, but I also noticed that my son was still visibly shaken by what happened. He must have been terrified by the experience. I was thankful that no harm had come to him. I couldn’t understand why someone would do such a thing. Was it a prankster out for a good time or some sick person who meant to do bodily harm to a frightened 8-year-old boy?

Richie was the center of attention for quite a while. A day would not go by without him telling someone of his ordeal. I noticed that with each telling of the story, his version of what happened changed a little. He was none the worse for it. But after a while, I had some doubts in my mind that the occurrence had ever materialized. The police never called back that a similar incident was reported to them. Could it have been that my son undertook the forbidden task of riding on his bicycle to his Aunt’s house, and then made up the whole story that someone was chasing him, just to keep out of trouble? He certainly would have been admonished at the least for his actions, if that were the case. I would like to believe it was an isolated case. We will never know for sure, though. Only Richard knows the true facts.

The main character in this true story is ercole

Richard was born on June 16, 1957. This story takes place in the sixties when Richard was just a child. My son insists that he was only 7 at the time. Somehow, I thought that was debatable, and so I compromised and put his age in the story as 8. But, I can recall that he was not yet 10 years old, still very young to experience the terror of running away from someone chasing him.