Taken

Feb 22, 2013 (continued)
I walked back through town. The empty streets were still creepy and haunting. There was an occasional man on a bicycle or a woman walking a dog, but if I saw five people on my walk back, I’d be surprised.

When I got to the bus station, the signs were all in Czech. I remembered from reading online that during some hours the bus left every 50 minutes and some hours it left every 30 minutes, but I couldn’t remember which hours were which. On top of that, there were also several different signs that buses departed from and since I’d gotten off outside of town, I wasn’t sure how to identify where the Prague bus would come.

I decided to go in the museum to see if they would know the schedule. As I crossed the street, I noticed a bald man walking along the curb towards me. I continued crossing and stepped up onto the sidewalk. As I did. He started talking to me in Czech. He wore sunglasses and a long black coat over a dark shirt and jeans.

I couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying. Words like “bus” and “me” jumped out, but the rest didn’t make sense. He seemed like he was telling me something crucial, but there was something odd about how he looked at me that seemed off.

“I don’t understand,” I said in English, but softly so my American accent wouldn’t give me a way as a total tourist. Whatever this guy wanted, I didn’t want him to think I was a lost, rich American.

He stopped talking and I turned to walk the other way. When I was a few paces down the road, I looked over my shoulder casually and saw that he was starting to follow me. I walked a little faster and sure enough, I could hear his footsteps quicken.

My one thought was he might be a cab driver trying to convince me to take his cab instead of the bus. I’d read in both travel books and on the US embassy’s site that this was a common issue tourists ran into. While crime against tourists—beyond that of pickpocketing—was pretty rare in the Czech Republic, the ones who did report more aggressive issues tended to involve taxi drivers who took them far away from town and left them without any money or resources. I also figured there was a chance that he was just a run of the mill “mugger” who had picked me out as a clueless tourist (not that it was real hard considering I was one of the few people walking around the town.)

When I got to the gate of the museum, I took a hard turn and rushed up the stairs inside the wooden door. Inside the gift shop, I peeked out the window. I saw him pacing a little at the bottom of the steps.

“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice said from behind me. I turned and saw her sitting at the counter watching me stare out the window.

As I walked over to her, I considered telling her that I thought I was being followed, but for whatever reason, I decided against it. “Do you know where the bus to Prague picks up?” I asked.

“By sign one across the street,” she said, pointing in the direction I had just come.

“Thank you,” I said. “Do you know the schedule by chance?”

“Yes,” she said, and produced a laminated sheet of paper with the times for various buses on it. “Next one is in 2 minutes, one after that is in 32 minutes.” I checked my watch. It was 1:33. That meant they came 1:35 or 2:05.

“Thank you,” I said, and turned to leave.

As I cracked open the door, I didn’t see the man at the bottom of the steps. Gingerly, I walked down them and towards the gate. As I looked down the street, sure enough, he was waiting a few yards back.

I turned left and started walking down the block. It was the opposite way from the bus stop but I figured I could loop around the block and try to lose him.

At the end of the street, I decided to cross. It gave me an excuse to look around (as if checking for traffic) in order to catch a glimpse behind me. As I did, I saw that he was walking down the street very slowly towards me.

I crossed and started walking down the block so I could get back to the station. Checking behind me, I saw that he was crossing the street as well. I crossed back over, and in a few seconds, he did too. I crossed back over, and sure enough, he did too.

This was creepy!

At the end of the block was a woman walking her dog. She was on her cell phone waiting to cross. While I didn’t want to alarm her, I did stand near her and wait while a truck drove past. I figured being close to another person was a good cover for now. When she crossed, I followed her, looking behind me. The man was still there.

She continued straight while I needed to turn to the bus stop. Making a quick turn between buildings, I jogged a little up to the main center were the buses picked up. As I came around the corner and saw sign one, the first thing I saw was the bus to Prague pulling away!

I had missed the 1:35!

So many thoughts went through my head. I was alone. I was being followed. And I couldn’t get away for 30 minutes.

Seeing a police station across from the bus stop I walked over there. I figured I could tell them I was being followed and at least wait inside for the 30 minutes. When I tried the door knob, it was locked. The sign said that the station closed at 1:00 on Fridays.

What kind of city was this? The police closed?

I went back to the bus station and found a sign (number four I think) that had a few people waiting at it. I figured again that being around people would give me some protection. I hadn’t been there but two minutes when their bus pulled up and they boarded. Now I was the only person in the square.

Going back over to sign one my heart was racing. I tried to figure out where else I could go. I didn’t see him anywhere, but I didn’t know if he could see me—after all there were all sorts of alleys and passages between buildings; I could easily be a sitting duck in the open space at the bus stop and not know it.

What I did see was a “Tourist Information” sign. I decided that would be another safe place to wait and I could see the bus arrive when it came. Walking over to it, I again tried the door knob. It too was locked. The sign said that it closed at 1:00 as well.

I didn’t know what to do. My fired off thoughts from no to nowhere as I tried to think of a plan. I wish I’d learned some Czech phrases for “Help” or “Leave me alone” but all I really knew “please” and “thank you.”

I heard footsteps approaching from the direction I’d last seen him. I pressed myself against the door frame of the building and waited. My lung tensed as I held my breath. The steps grew louder and louder. I waited and waited. Seconds ticked by like hours. Thoughts swirled in my head.

After a few seconds, I didn’t hear them anymore. I waited a few more seconds and stepped down to look around the canopy.

As I did, I heard a voice behind me. It made me jump. I turned and saw a man coming towards me speaking German.

Was there any chance they were working together? I panicked but didn’t know where to go.

I tried to make myself look tall as if I was fending off some sort of wild animal. I tried to make myself look confident. Inside, I was shaking like a fig tree.

As the man approached he held out his hand. His fingers were black from frost bite. Most of his teeth were missing and his hair was long and unkempt. In his palm were a few silver coins, probably totally five crowns.

He said something to me looking quite desperate.

“Yeah, sure,” I said reaching into my pocket. I was so shaken I just wanted him to go away. I pulled out the first coin I grabbed (a 50 crown piece—which totals about a buck fifty USD) and gave it to him.

His entire face lit up and he said something else.

“Um, nerezumin,” I said. I don’t understand.

“English?” he asked.

“Yeah” I said.

“Is too much,” he said pointing at the coin.

“It’s fine,” I said and looked the other way, still scanning to see if I was being watched.

“London?” he asked.

I hesitated for a second. Should I tell him where I was from? Would he want more money? Would he want to mug me too? I weighed the thought in my head before saying, “America.”

“America!” he said. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out a carton of cigarettes. There were four left. “Here,” he said, offering me one.

“No thank you,” I said, trying to smile at his gesture.

“No smoke?” he asked.

“No smoke,” I said.

“Oh ok,” he said. “Bye!” and with a big smile, he stumbled off to accost some other people who had just entered the square.

As my eyes darted between watching him and looking for my stalker, the clock tower suddenly chimed. Checking my watch, it was two o’clock. I only had five minutes left. I walked back across the street to the bus stop. There were a few older people walking around the square so I figured I might be able to get someone’s attention if I needed to.

The minutes of waiting for the bus seemed to last forever. I kept checking my watch only to find that mere seconds had passed. I started to count. It was a technique I’d read about to deal with anxiety attacks. Softly to myself I started, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…” and so one. At one point, two larger men came around the corner and I jumped a little, quickening my count…”thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four.”

When I checked my watch again, it was 2:07.

2:07! Had I missed it somehow? I said a silent prayer (which was one of many I’d been letting slip between numbers.)

“Seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine.”

A bus pulled up at sign four. Was that possibly my bus? Had the woman inside been mistaken?

“One hundred-fifteen, one hundred-sixteen, one-hundred seventeen.”

Finally, I saw a bus come around the corner.

“Oh please God! Oh please God! Oh please God!” I prayed. Sure enough, it pulled up to my stop and opened the door.

Getting on, I paid the driver for my ticket and took my change back to my seat. He started the bus before I’d sat down and the forward motion hurled me into a bench. Gathering my stuff and wedging up against the window, I scanned the bus to make sure I didn’t see the guy. Obviously, I didn’t.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief! I’d made it! I was okay!

I noticed a sticker on the window that said the bus had Wi-Fi. While I knew it would give me away as a tourist, I needed something to calm down and release my nerves. Turning on my iPod, it connected to the network right away. It was actually the best connection I’ve had in Europe and I was able to email my mom and update my Facebook.

When I got to the main station back in Prague, I got off and went to catch the subway. I realized I was a bit hungry so I bought some pastries from one of the venders in the station and ate them on the ride back into town.

When I made it back to Wenceslas and got on the tram, I started feeling more relaxed. I listened to the various conversations around me and realized I was back around people and didn’t need to worry anymore. I also noticed a new language that I hadn’t experienced yet…sign language. There were two deaf girls on the tram talking to each other with their hands.

I made it back to the dorm safely and got online to start recording the events of the day. It had been an exciting one and certainly a learning experience. Even though I’d probably gone a little too-far-too-fast for my skillset in travelling, I also felt very proud that I’d navigated my way out of and back to the city. Even dodging whatever danger—real or imagined—that I had encountered, I realized I was savvier than I thought.

And after all, this trip was an adventure. I certainly got my money’s worth today!