Warning: The following story contains discussion of false imprisonment and sexual assault.
There's something undeniably magical about a creative proposal plan. Dropping to one knee during "Love Story" while at the Taylor Swift Era's Tour? Love to see it. Attaching an engagement ring to your golden retriever? I'm dying from the cuteness.
But, depending on what the proposer's idea of "creative" really is, an imaginative proposal has the potential to go very, very wrong.
For example, the internet blew up a little this week after redditor Cautious-Rabbit-'s story about her boyfriend's kidnapping-themed proposal went viral. "A week ago, my BF told me he had a camping trip planned with his friends on Friday (today)," she wrote in the post. "He said he would have no service, and he’ll see me on Sunday. He messaged me at 5 a.m. this morning and told me they are hitting the road..."
"...Around 8, I went for a run like I usually do on Fridays. I have one headphone in while I do, because I'm on a work call. While I was running, I noticed a SUV that kept popping up. In hindsight, it looked just my like BF's childhood friend’s car. I sent a message to my sister saying to standby and shared my location. Right after sending the message, I looked up, and the SUV was right beside me, and someone jumped out and grabbed me. It happened so fast I even dropped my phone on the pavement. I was pulled into this car, and I could tell there were at least two masked guys in the back before they covered my eyes."
The story just gets worse from here on out. She details that two men were holding her arms and legs down in the car, and laughed as she screamed, kicked, and cried. She even reveals that she peed herself from the fear she experienced. After an unknown amount of time, they arrived at a house. "When the mask on my head was removed, I was on my knees in front of my BF of two years. He was staring at me with a confused look before he started to angrily ask his friends what was going on."
The woman recounts breaking down in panic all over again after realizing what was happening, and then going upstairs alone to gather her thoughts. "I can’t stop thinking about what happened, and even though I know now I was never in any danger, I don’t think my brain can comprehend it. They were snickering and teasing me in deepened voices about what they were going to do to me. The one that was holding my legs down kept caressing my thighs up and down into the inner area. When the car would brake, his face kept falling into my chest. I don’t even know who that was. I just know one of them sounded unsure and kept trying to diffuse the situation, but I think it was the driver."
She then provided a couple updates a few days after the original posting: "I’m working with police now. This is going to be investigated as a false imprisonment if I press charges. My sense of time was so warped. From where I was picked up to his house was about seven or 10 minutes in the car. It felt like way longer than that. As for the friends, the driver was his childhood best friend who I actually get along with well. He was in tears when he voluntarily arrived at the police station for a statement. The other two were friends from his athletics class that he started attending a few months ago. It seems like the two guys I didn’t know wanted in on what otherwise was supposed to be something more innocent.
The original plan was for them to pop out of this car in their funny kidnapping attire and hand me a letter that explained I was being summoned by bf and resistance is futile. Seems like the plan changed as the two new friends wanted to shake me up a bit more and make it feel more real."
If you're wondering where she currently stands with her boyfriend, here's her update on that front: "I’ve had time to calm down and long talks with my sister. We are going to meet up with my (ex?) BF for dinner tonight. He has been respectful of my requests for space, but has been emotional whenever he thinks about what I went through this morning. His best friend contacted me repeatedly apologizing for allowing it to go that far, but I asked for him to stop and he did. The best friend’s fiancé reached out and has been supportive and apologetic, too."
Unsurprisingly, the story made it to Twitter... And, WHEW, people had a lot of thoughts.
@Karnythia Men who like to scare women, or keep tickling after we say stop, or love “giving women a hard time,” or say “women don’t know how to take a joke” or ignore clear established boundaries…. These men, if given the opportunity to overpower a woman, would clearly take it.
@Karnythia The two extra guys absolutely need to be watched. You will never under any circumstances convince me that someone thought groping & laughing a terrified woman during a “prank” is was a joke not them living out an awful fantasy. Especially if they weren’t part of the original plan
@Karnythia Among him and his friends, was there no one able to understand that this was a horrible, horrible idea? I'm sorry, but this is not a B movie where the guy does something mildly stupid but gets the woman to forgive and marry him in the end. This should be a relationship ender.
The responses on Reddit were just as heated:
One person wrote, "This is no joke. Most people who are kidnapped or assaulted are done so by people they know. This is ASSAULT. Press charges against these shitty 'friends' of his."
Another user said, "You need to have your sister talk to your boyfriend. Not you. You need space. You need her to ask him EXACTLY what was the plan, and then what happened. If he doesn't immediately dump his friends, you immediately dump him. I am so, so sorry this happened to you. No one deserves this. I would absolutely have shit my pants."
I've fortunately never been in this woman's position, so I can't say exactly what I would do, but all I know is that quite a few people would be feeling my wrath.
