What does a monster look like to you? Is it a monster with scales and huge claws? Is it purple, green or red? Or is the monster the bad guy in almost any movie with a clear protagonist. If so he would definitely have have scars all over his body, probably with tattoos of scary things and he would be making lewd comments. Before he attacks an innocent woman he would lick his lips and hit her to silence her cries.

That’s not what my monster looked like and it’s not how most people who have been assaulted are met with face to face in the dark. Sometimes a monster can be a friend who lets his hormones get the best of him, or a preppy, business man who feels he deserves to act out or sometimes, like the incident in Lincoln, it could be the woman down the street.

I’m not an angry or bitter person and I would never be the type to immediately start distrusting everyone around me but what my personal experience taught me is that I need to wake up and be more aware. The monsters from my books, movies or dreams are not always the monsters I’ll meet in real life. I was vulnerable in thinking that because  a person looked a certain way that no harm could come to me and that’s far from the case. According to an article by the Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency, most criminals are pretty average looking. Almost the kind you would trust giving a key to your house, to feed your cat while you’re away.

I love my city, Bangor is truly amazing. I love where I have come from and all the amazing people I’ve been able to meet here so I refuse to let one bad experience ruin that for me. I just now know that monsters aren’t always hiding under my bed and sometimes they have a really beautiful smile.