A Defining Moment In My Life And How It Affected Me/contest

Reflective Contest: Write About A Defining Moment In Your Life And How It Has Affected You

Which pivotal moment to focus on? There are so many!!
This was a long time ago but as fresh as if yesterday.

My first job. My father's friend had a pharmacy in the small town in which we lived. His friend hired me to work at the cash register during summer break. School was out for the summer. I was a young girl in my junior year in high school.

The local priest for the nearby church would come in to buy cigarettes using all coins. He received a discount for being a priest. You know where he was getting the coins. Ha Ha.

Mark was hired for the summer. He was also in high school who had been kept back twice. He was a lot bigger and older than everyone else. A bully.

I would regularly go into the storeroom to find items for restocking the shelves, candy bars, which I would generously help myself to, yum. One of the perks of the job. One of the times I went back to the storeroom Mark followed me. Alone in a fairly dark and secluded place he grabbed me and pushed against the wall, his hands around my neck choking me to within an inch of life. He really enjoyed that, laughing and laughing as I struggle to breath and get away from him but was pinned against the wall. It really was an horrendous experience for me.

I reported it to my father's friend, the pharmacist, but he was busy counting pills and putting them bottles and simply nodded and mumbled, "Don't go back there when he's there."

You can be sure I didn't ever go back there again unless I was sure Mark was out driving the delivery truck.

A few days later, front page news big bold letters in the local newspaper... teenagers drinking and driving in a convertible had met with a disaster. One boy had stood up in the convertible and a tree branch had severed his head from his body. It was Mark.

It was then that I knew there was something more going on around me, higher forces, that I was not able to perceive. I became determined to uncover that which was now hidden.

My search for truth in life had been fueled in a big way by this incident.

Thank you @goodybest for a great topic. Am eager to see other entries...