[strangers with candy]

i remember when my sister and i were little all these kidnapping were making the local news. this of course gave my mother yet another reason to add to the list of things beyond her control to worry about. so she followed the advice of some "expert" on tv and came up with a word that she was to tell a stranger if something were to happen and she needed them to pick us up at school. that way if we didn't know them, but they knew the word, we'd know it was safe to get in the car with them. i'm not really sure what could possibly happen that no one in our life, that we did know, would be able to come get us and my mom would have to send a stranger instead, but whatever. so i went about my business holding on to my secret word ever fearing that one day i'd have to use it. nothing ever came of it, and no one ever tried to kidnap me. but one day we were sitting around discussing it and it turns out i was the ONLY one in the family who knew my version of the secret word. and everyone else knew of a different one. apparently mine was wrong. i got mine from my mother, i’m thinking maybe i should be hurt by that.