close call?

i was out cycling one day when i was stopped by a 40-ish malay guy on a motorbike. having attended one pendidikan moral class too many, i naively thought he was going to ask for directions, which was y i stopped to his beckoning.

malay guy: ah moy, mari ikut saya. ada seorang budak perempuan pakai baju seragam di belakang pokok besar situ (pointing to the big 'datuk-kong' tree somewhere in the swampy area in front of my house)
me: huh?
malay guy: mari ikut saya pergi tengok. tengok itu kawan awak atau bukan.
me: um, ok.
malay guy: ah moy ikut saya ar...
me: ok.

he then rode off in his motorbike towards the lane that led into the swampy area, with me following behind on my bike. but suddenly it hit me (i know i was a bit slow to realize it so late) that maybe he's a bad guy and is actually trying to lure me into the swampy area! *panic!* still following him, my mind started spinning. what if what he said is true? if i don't go to the girl's aid and she died, it would be all my fault. but what if it's a lie? if i follow him and something bad happened, i'd be the stupidest girl in melaka!

by now, he's gotten some distance in front of me. as luck would have it, we had to pass my house to get to that lane. when he reached the mouth of the lane, he glanced back one last time to make sure that i'm still following, and then turned to disappear into the overgrown bushy lane. i was still deliberating if i should really follow him and in a few seconds, would have gone past my house. glancing at my house to my left, i saw that the front gate was wide open as usual. in a moment of clarity, i thought to myself, "ah, to hell with the girl. it's too big a risk to take." and turned my bike handle towards my house.

my heart was still beating wildly when i peaked out the window (thank god for tinted glasses!) to see that same malay guy riding past my house (in the opposite direction from the swap area), looking left and right searching for me.

even tho' it's been abt 20 years (gosh, has it really been that long?), i still think abt that incident occasionally, especially when i read abt rape n murder cases in the newpapers. and i still shudder at the thought of how close i was to being in the news.

p/s: funnily enough, i've not told anyone abt this, not even my parents. maybe it's just too scary to bring up. or maybe i didn't want my parents to worry unnecessarily (since nothing happened).

and i'm not sure y i'm blogging abt it now.