No longer untouched

Trains.
A common occurrence here in Hong Kong. There are so many people coming and going from places I can't even pronounce.
Going from my station to 'The Island' is an adventure in itself. Trains, compacted with people. You're practically best friends with the person next to you by the time you get to your destination. Squished in there like sardines. Aimlessly grabbing the pole to not get pulled out at the wrong spot with the rush of people clambering to get off before the doors beep and come to a close, and the train takes off to it's next stop.

Usually these train rides are fine. The only thing that might be slightly disturbing is that someone close to you decided not to wear deodorant that day. But apart from that, nothing too bad.

The other day, I got on a train with mum, to go to a restaurant, meeting up with a mate.
We leave the 'Blue line' for the 'Red line' (one of the most compact lines). We get on and a lady says that I am beautiful. Being someone who usually doesn't get these compliments, I graciously say thank you, my self-esteem higher than before.
Mum and I take a few more trains, we even manage to get a seat for one of them. On these trains, if you get a seat, it is a real achievement.

We finally get to our stop. We clamber out, making sure we have all our bags. I've never been to this stop before, so I am not familiar with the station. Mum turns away from me for a moment, only a moment, to find a map. And then it happened.


I feel him long before I see him, As I remember back now, I can't see his face anymore. My mind has already begun to forget it, saving me the fear.
His hand stroked down my face and onto my neck. I whip my head around to look at him, only quickly seeing his face before I pull away. I hear him say 'Hello', but I'm already walking away.
I hide behind mum, like a small child afraid of someone new, clutching to my face.
My mother shouts, he looks shocked, like what he just did was perfectly fine, then walks off.

I can still feel him on my face, his disgusting, perverted hand. His fingers stroking my cheek. It makes me sick that he got that close. Mum didn't see it happen, only I did.
The only reason he did that, was because I'm a white, 14-18 year old female, nothing more.

And it just made me think.
This small occurrence in my life, opened my eyes to what is going on in our world. That girls, my aged girls, are dealing with this, and things worse than this. Some are too scared to tell anyone, just have nightmares about him.
Although my occurrence was barely nothing compared to rape or assault, I still feel I understand it more.
It pains me to think that there are the sickest people in our world, that do this.
What if I was alone?
What if he followed me home?
What if he grabbed me?
What would I have done?

In China, this is a normal occurrence in shady parts of town (which we later discovered, we were in).

Even after I showered, washed my face with Detol, and scrubbed my face. I can still feel him. And I feel disgusting and gross that I will remember him for the rest of my life.......
The faceless pervert at the train station.....