#0015 | I found a baby

Submitted by Shelly in South Park, Colorado.

Here’s Shelly’s story:

“A (really long) haiku for you:

I was having breakfast at a restaurant in this pedestrian mall area of Breckenridge a few years ago when I went to use the restroom. I opened the door and a lone baby, tiny and barely able to stand, toddled out the door. I looked in the restroom and no one was there. There were no adults outside the restroom, either.

I picked up the baby and became a little bit panicked. I searched everywhere in the area. Finally, several yards away, a little girl was standing alone. Little kids all know each other, right? I asked the little girl, “Do you know this baby?” The little girl said, “She’s my sister!”

“Where’s your mom?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” said the little girl.

“Let’s go looking for her.”

So we started walking through this crowded pedestrian mall, me trying to hold the baby kind of up high so the mom would see us and come forward. Then the little girl started running fast, weaving through the congestion, and I had to chase her through the crowd. My breakfast companions were probably wondering what happened to me at this point.

I followed the little girl into a store, and the woman working at the counter looked shocked. I guess it’s weird seeing some stranger walk into your store holding your baby. “What’s going on?!” she said. “I um, found them. At the restrooms.”

“Their father was supposed to be watching them!” she screamed. I could tell Dude would be sleeping on the couch that night. I also realized I was inherently sexist… maybe the dude really had left his kids, but maybe if I would have asked, “Where are your parents?” the little girl would have pointed to her dad standing right next to her. Maybe I stole his kids right in front of his eyes…

Either way, it was cool to go back to breakfast and say, “I found a baby!””