Week 13 – Melissa Cordero

At the beginning of the story, it developed as typical teenage experiences.  She liked boys and wanted their attention. I know a ton of ways how that can lead to something bad at the same time I knew it wasn’t uncommon for developing girls.  I didn’t feel as though that contributed as much as someone might think, to the events that took place at her home.  It doesn’t take a genius to realize a child acting like a woman doesn’t make her a woman. A predator will want to pursue her either way.  In this case, Arnold Friend, was the predator. A charming predator. It almost seemed as though he could’ve been a professional predator with how he knew Connie’s parents weren’t home and weren’t coming back during the time of his arrival. His confidence showed me he’s done it before.  When he began to describe what the family was doing in the moment, it came across more like a psychic ability. Even my daughter mentioned how his name was similar to Arch-fiend, which is some sort of demon lord in their Yu-Gi-Oh game, however I can’t imagine assuming that this man had powers. But for a child? Im sure manipulation in that fashion is quite simple. He made her believe he knew so much that she wouldn’t be able to outsmart him.  He was able to send her into an entire panic of fear simply by talking to her.  He maintained her curiosity with childish conversation about the design to his car and joking around about his friend.  Unless the story tells of the car floating away in midair or creating a portal to her parents to show what they’re doing, I would never have believed it was supernatural.  She was a young simple girl and with that premise alone he was able to lure her out of her home. For me, the story is about innocence interrupted.