Manipon 1

Gelsey Manipon
Mr. Smith
Writing for College
12 September 2016
Almost Kidnapped
Four year olds dont normally get themselves into sticky situations. I am not like most
four year olds. A lot of things were happening in my life. I almost drowned in the shallow side of
a pool and almost killed my little brother with a pop tart. But by far the weirdest and scariest
thing to happen to me was almost being kidnapped at age four.
My family and I, including immediate cousins were at an outlet mall in Oregon.
Woodburn Premium Outlets has 110 stores and a beautiful little grassy area with bushes and a
bench. The mall was like the Ewa wing of Ala Moana, nice walkways, big name brand stores,
and really green grass. My whole family traveled like a pack; nobody gets left behind. Since
majority of my cousins were older and bigger than me, I felt the need to act mature like them.
For the four year old me, that meant not holding onto my moms hand anymore (because big kids
dont do that). So whenever my mom grabbed my hand, I squirmed and pulled until I broke her
hold on me. Eventually my mom stopped trying and I walked beside my Ate (meaning older
cousin) Jessica, and because my Ate needed to buy a shirt we went to a clothing shop. The store
was brightly lit and there were colors all around me. Mannequins showed up everywhere too, by
the window display, in the corner of the store, and right by me.
I was being a kid, ducking in and out of the clothes racks. In my fun, I lost my family.
One second I was popping out of the clothes rack to scare my cousins then the next moment they
disappeared. I shrugged it off thinking that everyone was in a different part of the store. But in

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actuality, everyone except my mom and me left the store. My mom thought Id gone with my
dad and my dad thought I was with my mom. My mom was among the trove of women inside
the store. I wasnt tall enough to look over the racks, but I wasnt so small that people stepped on
me.
I ran my hand along the fabric of the clothes when I stopped in front of a mannequin. It
looked like your average mannequin decorated with dark colored clothing, a suave hat, and little
complementary accessories. The mannequins hand laid open against its side and on impulse, I
still dont know why to this day, I grabbed ahold of the life size dolls cold plastic hand. So here I
was, this small four-year-old girl holding a mannequins hand. Then, I swear to God, this
happened, it moved. The appendage my hand was holding moved. I dont know about you, but if
something thats supposed to lifeless, inanimate moves then you freak out. I was freaking the hell
out. I snatched my hand away and somehow I felt the mannequin staring down at me. I ran away
from that mannequin but soon I was met with another mannequin and another and another. Im
not claustrophobic, but suddenly everything felt as if it was closing in on me. The racks full of
clothes were sliding toward me and the mannequins were getting closer and closer. I was so
freaked out that I ran outside the store.
Looking back it may not have been the smartest choice I ever made, but the four year old
me did a lot of things that werent smart. It took only a second for me to realize that I was all
alone. When I travel outside of Hawaii, I go to places with mostly haole people. So my eyes are
darting around and all Im seeing are people I dont know. Then it hits me. My mom is still
inside the store. So I rush back into the store and start looking around for my mom. A salesperson
or maybe concerned patrons were trying to get me to stop and calm down, but being a four-yearold girl who misses her mom and believes strangers are dangerous, I was on a lone mission to

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find my mom. And find my mom is what I was going to do, DAMNMIT! I ended up not finding
my mom and I ran back outside like the smart little four year old I was. I momentarily forgot all
about the mannequins but when I glanced at the window display I saw them, mocking me. I was
fuming, in my head I thought the mannequins were the reason why I lost my family so I was
scared of them. I felt this angry paranoia wash over me and I needed to put as much distance
between the mannequins and me.
I wandered aimlessly among other big bodies, looking like a lost child. After awhile
people finally started take notice of me; these two haole girls in particular were most likely my
age or a little older at the time. I cant imagine what these two girls were thinking when they saw
me. But what they did to me, I will never be able to forget for the rest of my life. This incident
haunts me to this day. They approached me and I thought Oh they must be the friends of my
cousins. That was my four-year-old assumption from living in Hawaii for so long. Im sure these
girls tried to talk to me, they mustve said something but even at four I was shy. Painfully shy.
But if a four year old doesnt quickly respond to your questions, you dont do what they did. I
cant make this up. In fact I think my life would have been drastically different if I made this up.
These two girls picked me up.
Now it wasnt the fact that they picked me up that scarred me for life. It was the fact that
they picked me as if I were a log. They held me sideways and I have never been held this way,
not since I was a baby.
So I did what was normal for kids my age. I threw a tantrum. Everything was a blur and
blood started rushing to my head. I had watched enough TV to know what I thought was going
on. I started kicking and screaming which again not the best idea because they couldve dropped
me. The girls, thankfully, didnt drop me but they did let me down. The second my feet touched

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the floor I took off running. I was four with small tiny legs and asthma trying to outrun two
teenage girls. Somehow I reached a grassy area with no one coming after me (Im certain this is
because I nicked one of them in the chin when I was kicking).
I escaped the clutches of inanimate mannequins, the sweaty palms of teenage girls, and
avoided being kidnapped twice in ten minutes. To celebrate I played around in the grass because
I was four. A mall security guard approaches me; where was he while I was fearfully wandering
around the mall? Now this guy I like, he doesnt try to belittle me or (God forbid) pick me up. He
signals for me to follow him and I follow him because I like his uniform. He asks me for the
name of anyone I know and I give my dads name.
The overhead speakers crackle to life, Paging, Gilbert. Gilbert. Please go to costumer
service. Paging Gilbert to go to costumer service.
So were in the shade, waiting for my dad to come to costumer service. What I didnt
mention before, this guy is huge and hes African American. The uniform distracted me from
how scary this guy looks to the four year old me, like real scary but not mannequin scary.
Your daughter was found by the grassy area, the big burly black guy tells my dad.
A lot of things happened to me that day. I lost my family because I didnt want to hold
said familys hand. I met mannequins that tried to attack and almost got kidnapped by slimy teen
mainland girls. Sometimes how we perceive things isnt what they actually are especially when
youre four.