Scary Things #10

This is another missing kid story--about my Matthew when he was 4--the last of my brood of five.

It was during school time, and I couldn't find him.Of course I looked in all the logical places to no avail. Matt was very adventuresome, so I was truly worried.

I called the police, and when they arrived I learned there were three others of the same age missing. 

Everyone in the neighborhood was searching, but none of us heard anything until around 4 p.m.

First, I received a call from a woman I knew from PTA who was also a crossing guard for a school 4 or 5 miles away. She told me this story:

She came home from work and heard kids' voices in her back yard. She went out there and found what she said were four little white kids with her chow dog. She happened to be African American.

She said the dog didn't usually like kids he didn't know but they all seemed to be getting along. She also said they'd eaten lots of oranges from her trees--peels were all over the yard. She put the kids in her car to take them home, but no one knew which way to go. She brought them back in the house and called the police. She wanted me to know the police were bringing the kids home. I thanked her profusely.

In minutes, Matthew arrived at the door in the arms of a policeman. I couldn't get him to tell me anything because he went right to sleep.

This is what I finally learned: He told his friends he could take them where there was a lion. What he meant to do was take them to the recreation center where there was a stature of a lion they could climb on. He's been there with me several times. However, it took longer than he thought and the kids got tired and hungry, and they ended up climbing on a trash can and going over a fence into a backyard  orange trees and with an animal  that looked like a lion--the chow dog. Matthew always had a way with dogs...and still does.

They ate lots of oranges, but couldn't get back over the fence. There was a play house in the yard and they spent time playing in it.

Another scary time that ended wonderfully!

Marilyn