"You're too little"

I thought it twice. "You're too little". "You're too little". Then I said it out loud before my brain kicked in and I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the shoulder.

As I jumped out, someone in a gold car who was surprised by my sudden stop leaned on the horn glaring at me. I didn't care. I didn't care that I'd left my bag in the front seat. Danny was already at Jenni's so I didn't have to worry about leaving him alone but I think I would have. You see, I didn't care about anything else in that moment, except for the fact that a little boy who looked to be about two years old was in serious danger of being hit by a car.

The road that we take to drive back and forth from Jenni's is very busy. Two lanes of traffic in one direction, a median, and then two lanes going in the opposite direction. The speed limit is probably 35 but most people go faster.

The little boy was holding a broom and was on the street, on the shoulder where cars sometimes park, but not yet in front of the oncoming traffic. He was wearing a red shirt and blue shorts and had dark hair. There was no adult in sight, and I remember he was just sort of watching the cars whiz on by while swinging the broom around.

This story has a happy ending. By the time I'd taken two steps back toward him I saw a woman racing down from one of the houses and she grabbed him in a tight hug. I can't imagine how she must have felt when she realized he was there. One car had stopped right were the boy was, and put on hazard lights. Thank God he hadn't darted out past it. You know how impatient drivers seem to get ticked off and zoom around cars that stop for reasons they can't understand.

I hadn't gotten very far but I was glad I stopped. And yes I cried. I wish I'd stopped sooner. Wished my brain had reacted to the first thought I had that this boy was too little to be out there all by himself. But mostly I'm just grateful that he's okay. So very grateful. -Monica