"He was right behind me..."

Said the woman as I handed her the toddler I found wandering in the road. A road where the speed limit is 45 but most drive 55 or faster. A road, thank God, that isn't busy during the late morning.

It's not unusal to see things in the road. If it's not deer or groundhog, it's a dead animal or buzzards eating the dead animal. I saw something up ahead but couldn't make it out right away. It's weird sometimes how you see something but it takes a few seconds for your brain to register what it is. At first glance, I swore it looked like a pelican picking at something. Then it seemed to be a small old woman bending over, but I knew that couldn't be right. It was much too small. Once I got closer, slowed down and stopped, it finally registered that what I was seeing was a toddler with white/blonde hair, pushing a truck in the road. He was the cutest thing...sucking on a pacifier having a grand old time but there were no adults in sight.

I parked in the only drive to the left and walked over to him. I didn't want to scare him so I said, "Hi there, where's mommy? Let's go get mommy". Then I reached out my hand hoping he'd take it. Since he didn't seem to mind me being there, I scooped him up and got him out of the road. I could have put him in the car and stolen him in a matter of seconds. Needless to say, I was pissed.

The yard to the house was huge. The idea of going up to the door was quickly squashed by a vision of a dead mother lying in a pool of blood while the child was left to wander around the house. It's not something I would normally think of but I've heard similar stories in the news and decided to listen to that little voice in my head.

I thought about calling the police but I was afraid if I sat in the car to get the phone, someone might think I was taking him. A second later I saw a woman running across the back lawn. She had a wheelbarrow near her and I assumed she was doing yard work. She said, "He was right behind me!" I told her how he was in the middle of the road playing with his truck. I could tell she felt bad so I didn't give her a hard time. She really needed a proper ass chewing but I remember a few mistakes I made when I was younger and I just couldn't.

I ran up and down that stretch of the road 4 more times that day and had to slow down near the house each time. I told my mother I should stop by her house and tell her how she traumatized me! It bothered me all day long. She could have lost her son in a matter of seconds. What if I had not been paying attention and hit him? He wouldn't have survived it. Her life would have changed forever. My life would have never been the same.

I don't think I'll ever drive the same on these back roads again. I used to only worry about stray dogs and deer. Now I have to keep my eye out for small children too...which I should have been doing all along so I guess that's not a bad thing.

PLEASE watch your children when they are outside playing!