Stolen Innocence 

                         (Excerpt of work in Progress)

                                Written by: Tais Keels

                                                  

  A gentle summer breeze blew parting the heavy boughs of the old maple tree allowing the soft glow of the midnight to moon illuminate the quiet lake. The sound of the peaceful breeze blowing across the water creating tiny ripples and waves was a soothing contrast to the incessant whizzing of dragonflies which encircled the lake. Adalynn slowly walked to the edge of the water. The gentle rhythm of the waves gently crashing on the shore washed over her sandaled feet. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and could smell the sweet and aromatic fragrance of lilacs. In the distance she could hear the ardent mating call of the northern bull frogs and persistent chirping of the field crickets.
  A firm hand on her right shoulder made her quickly open her eyes and turn around half-startled and half-expectantly. As her eyes focused on the image in front of her she saw a older man about  in his mid- twenties standing before her. Like a stealthy predator in the night he had followed her without her even hearing his footsteps on the branch strewn ground. A shiver went down her spine although the temperature was a very comfortable seventy-five degrees.
 Could this be Zach? She silently asked herself. She looked him up and down. His light brown hair was swept back and glistened in the soft moonlight.Hair mousse, she quietly chuckled and half smiled recognizing the shine to be a little more than natural oil secretion.  His light blue eyes stared back at her and his relaxed posture and gentle smile should have put her at ease. Perhaps it was the fact that she had expected him to look slightly younger; the way he looked in all the pictures he had sent her over the Internet.
Or still maybe it was that silent voice in her head and the sick feeling in her gut that told her this whole thing was dead wrong. Looking up again she half- hoped that maybe she had mistaken this man for her Zach. But no, it was him. He was wearing the exact same clothes he had told her he would wear, earlier that evening.

                                                         Copyrighted 2011

(Synopsis) A lonely thirteen year-old girl turns to the internet chatrooms for someone to talk when she thinks she has found the perfect friend. But has she found the perfect friend or the perfect psychotic obsessive?