It was a sunny day at the ranch. Teeny and Shep were resting by the barn entrance, taking in the aroma of sweet flowers filling the countryside. They heard a shriek from inside the barn, followed by Angora rushing from the stable. Teeny and Shep were intrigued, to say the least.
"Oh, sorry Angora," Zoey said in an uncharacteristic apology. "I didn't see you there. I'll be more careful, I promise."
Zoey walked away, phone clutched tightly with both hands.
"What was that about Shep?" Teeny asked.
"Don't know. Agora," the dog inquired, "what happened?"
"Zoey had the audacity to step on my tail!" Angora replied in anger. "I think it could be broken!"
Shep rolled his eyes, and asked, "What was she doing?"
"She was texting on that stupid phone!" Angora said.
"Well who could Zoey be texting Shep?" Teeny asked.
"I don't know," Shep replied, running off in Zoey's direction. When he reached her, she was sitting under a tall tree, phone in hand, and a smile on her face. Shep, despite being a dog, raised the fur around his left eye. Zoey made a duck face at her phone's camera, then the phone clicked. She typed a few words and sent. Shep slowly crept out from his hiding place, startling Zoey.
"Oh it's just you Shep. Hey look," Zoey showed Shep a picture on her phone. It was of a twelve year old boy, with brown skin, and black hair.
"That's Michael. Isn't he cute?" Zoey gushed. "He and I have been chatting for the last month. He says he wants to meet up soon. Can you believe it, Shep? My first date!"
The collie instinctively clutched the phone in his jaws, running away to the stables. Zoey, angered, got up to chase Shep, but the dog was faster. Looking for one particular rider, he raced around Horseland until he saw her. Shep made a beeline for Sarah, Zoey dashing behind him.
"Give me back my phone you stupid mutt!"
Shep gave the phone to Sarah, who looked at the screen.
"Zoey," she asked, "what is this?"
Zoey snatched the phone from Sarah's hand. "None of your business. Ew, it has dog germs all over it!"
"Zoey we need to talk about this," Sarah warned.
"Later Sarah, I've got things to do." Zoey started to walk away.
"They can wait."
Zoey stopped and sighed in frustration. Sarah asked, "When are you meeting him?"
"This Friday, after school."
"Zoey did I ever tell you about Kyle?" Sarah asked.
"Who?"
"Kyle, he was a boy I met online. We met when I was 8."
Zoey placed a hand on her hip. "Is this going to be long?"
"I think you need to make time," Sarah stated. It wasn't said harshly, but Zoey knew this wasn't a suggestion. She sat down.
"It all happened four years ago."
~Transition~
Four years ago…
Carmichael Elementary was the first elementary school in the city to have a computer class. The students had to make an account on a site called Chatlog, a place for most kids to meet others their age in other places. Internet was still fairly developing, and so many dangers were either ignored, or unheard of. On Chatlog, students could create usernames, put up a profile picture, and give out personal information, which consisted of a first name, school name, and home state. No addresses were to be given, and in fact, the site's bots would detect address like things, and quickly act to omit these from messages. Links could be shared by students to other sites, but bots also acted if these sites were harmful, or otherwise inappropriate.
In everyone's eyes, the site seemed pretty safe. So when Sarah put up her profile, her username was Moseylover8, her profile picture was of her holding Mosey, and of course, she put her name as Sarah, Carmichael Elementary as her school, and Pennsylvania as her state. After a week, she got her first friend request, a boy named Kyle who had dark hair and blue eyes. He too lived in Pennsylvania, and he mentioned Klein Academy as his school. Klein Academy was a well known school located outside the city, and so Sarah rejoiced at the possibility of a friend there.
It wasn't long before the two started messaging each other. She had told him about her cat, and Scarlet, her horse. In a shocking turn of events, he liked horses too, for he told her he had a pony named Stardust. He even told Sarah that she could see Stardust someday.
It was around this time that Sarah got her first phone. Her first instinct was to go onto Chatlog to talk to Kyle. Pretty soon, she did it at every opportunity. It was one particularly cold day in March when Sarah was sitting with her friends Barry, Victor, and Courtney.
"What're you doing Sarah?" Courtney asked.
"I'm talking to Kyle," Sarah replied. Barry laughed.
"She's probably kissing him, right now!"
"That's not how that works, silly. People can't kiss over the internet," Victor spoke up, biting into his peanut butter sandwich.
"Still, she's probably kissed him before," Barry teased. "Sarah and Kyle, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I…"
"Cut it out Barry," Courtney scolded. Turning to Sarah, she asked, "But have you met him in person?"
"Not yet. I keep asking him if he wants to come over to my house, but he thinks my parents will mind. When I told him no, he told me not to tell them about him, in case they got mad. But Mom and Dad are really nice, I don't know why he would think otherwise."
Victor and Courtney were silent, and Barry got serious.
"Sarah, have you told anyone about Kyle other than us?" Courtney asked.
"No, but he knows you guys know, and he's okay with it. In fact, he says that he'd like to meet you guys too," Sarah said. "In fact, let's take a picture together."
"Why?" Barry asked.
"So he can see you guys silly!" Before they could protest, Sarah had taken a selfie of the whole table. When she sent it, she got a message back quickly.
I thought your friends were girls…
Sarah giggled to herself, replying,
Courtney's a girl, silly.
A few pauses before Kyle replied.
Maybe you and Courtney could come over to my house on Friday. After school?
Sure thing! Can I ride Stardust?
Of course…
"He wants us to come over Friday, Courtney. Is that okay?" Sarah asked. The raven haired girl to her left shared a quick look with Barry and Victor, saying, "I don't think that's a good idea, Sarah."
"Why not?" the blonde asked.
"My mom warns me not to go over at strangers' houses."
"But Kyle's not a stranger. He's my friend! He wouldn't hurt you," Sarah defended.
"Well, mom also doesn't want me to go over by boys either. Sorry Sarah I can't," Courtney said sadly.
The bell rang, and the four eight year-olds went to class. After school, Victor pulled Courtney and Barry aside.
"I know it seems dangerous, but I think you should go with Sarah," Victor said.
"Why?"
"She's not safe, and I doubt she'll say anything to her parents but going over a friends house. She'll need you," Victor reasoned.
"And what do I tell my mom?" Courtney inquired, folding her arms.
"School project?" Barry piped up.
"Okay, I'm game if you are," Courtney said. Victor and Barry shared a look, but decided to play dumb.
"What do you mean?" Victor asked.
"Eight hands are better than four. Come on guys, you aren't chicken, are you?" Courtney's hands got dangerously close to her armpits.
"Of course not. We'll be there with you. All for one?" Victor stretched out his hand, and Courtney placed hers on his. They looked to Barry.
"And one for all!" Barry slapped his hand onto the others, and the three did a salute.
So Friday came, and the three had told Sarah that they would go with her, when Sarah received a message on Chatlog.
I invited a few friends over to meet you and Courtney. You can ride their horses as well.
Cool. What kinds are they?
A three-minute pause.
A black Arabian, a palomino, and a shire. Oh and Stardust, who's an American cream draft.
When Barry noticed Sarah smiling at her phone, he asked, "What's up?"
"Kyle has friends bringing their horses over too."
"I'm out," Courtney said, but Victor blocked her path.
When the bell rang at the day's end Sarah and company marched off to their destination. Now since they couldn't exchange addresses on Chatlog, the meeting arrangement was simple. Kyle's dad would drive into the city and meet Sarah and Courtney at Benson Park. From there Kyle's dad would drive them from the park to his house outside the city.
When they got to the park, not a lot of people were there. There were two black men sitting by the pond and talking, while a bearded man sat feeding the pigeons. No one else was around.
"What does Kyle's dad look like?" Barry asked.
Sarah quickly pulled up a picture on her phone. It was a blonde man with bright blue eyes.
"He looks like an older you, Bar," Courtney said, causing Barry to fold his arms. Suddenly, a Chevy Suburban pulled up by the road. Kyle's dad stepped out. He looked at Barry and Victor and soured slightly.
"Hi, are you girls Sarah and Courtney?"
Sarah looked at the man, and Courtney got scared. Even though the man had a non-threatening grin on his face, all chills went to Courtney's spine. She ran off in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the other men at the park ran after her. Victor ran to help Courtney while Barry charged into Kyle's dad.
"Run Sarah!" Barry shouted.
Sarah ran to the curb, and crossed the street without looking into the Fast Burger on the corner. After a minute, five guys ran out of the restaurant, rushing to help the kids. Fortunately for them, none of the kidnappers had a chance to pull out a gun before they were caught by the Fast Burger patrons. Before Sarah could run back to the park, an older black woman pulled her close, pulling out her cell phone, and notifying the police.
Sarah soon found out that Kyle didn't exist. The man she thought was her friend was actually a man named Peter McDaniels, a wanted pedophile. The other men were assorted friends of his, whom he picked for this crime by identifying their skin color and other characteristics with horses, something Sarah loved. The "black Arabian" was an African man. The "palomino", a light-skinned African American. The bearded man represented the fairly hairy "shire". And of course, the cream draft was himself.
An officer had sat down with Sarah, and told her about what potentially could've happened to her. She might not have seen her parents, or Scarlet, or Mosey again. And even worse, her friends might've been hurt as well. Courtney, Barry, and Victor were given similar talks. While they were commended for trying to help Sarah, they should've told their parents, and they should have notified the proper authorities.
It was a lesson that Sarah had almost learned the hard way. And she vowed to never let a friend make the same mistake.
Present day…
"My parents took away my phone too. They said that when I was older I would be more prepared," Sarah said.
"What happened with Chatlog?"
"The school shut down the program, and the FBI eventually shut down the site. As it turns out, I was far from the only kid who'd been contacted by a predator," Sarah related.
Zoey looked at her phone, and Shep sat staring quietly. Looking at Michael's profile, Zoey made a decision. She hit the block button, and exited the site.
"But what if he was real?" Zoey asked.
"Zoey, you can meet new people everyday. People that you know are real. It's not worth the risk," Sarah said. "I don't want to see my friend end up on the news."
"You think I'm your friend?" Zoey asked, shocked.
"It's why I care so much," Sarah replied. "Sure you can be, difficult, at times, but I like to see past that. Now let's go inside and hang out with our real friends!"
"Sure, sounds good," Zoey said, smiling. As the two walked back to the house, Shep stared after them. Teeny and Angora walked up from behind.
"Is it over, Shep? Is everything okay?" Teeny asked.
"Everything's back to normal, Teeny. Always remember something: people may not always be who they say they are. You've got to be careful and always tell a trusted adult if you see, read, or hear something suspicious."
"And why should this matter to us? We're animals," Angora said.
"Well, I like to think that someone out there can learn from my words of wisdom," Shep replied.
"Have fun with that," Angora said, walking away. Shep turned to the camera, and winked.