This episode contains stories involving violence against children.

Listener discretion is advised.

It just has to be something so wrong with this person for him to be able to do something like that to a child.

Real people.

I managed to get the knife away from him, and he went absolutely back crazy.

Who faced death.

I closed his eyes and told him I loved him, and then I walked down the trail.

And lived to tell how.

I didn't know if he was going to kill me. I just, I didn't know.

This is I survived.

It's August 2000 in Vallejo, California.

It is the morning of Midsie's eighth birthday. It was the day of my birthday party.

I wanted to help my mom get all this stuff together, go get the cake, set up balloons, and, you know,

I just wanted to, you know, I wanted to help out. I was excited for this day. It was my birthday.

I was going to have a bunch of friends over. So I didn't wanna go to school.

I asked my mom if I could just stay home.

But she said no, she wanted me to, you know,

she didn't want me to miss school.

She wanted to surprise me, you know,

and do her own thing.

So I went to school that day.

I lived about six blocks away from my elementary school,

...