As the bus slowly whined to a stop close to the sidewalk and the doors opened, Angelica stepped down gently and sighed. It was a bit chilly in the mornings. Her eyes were heavy and blurry. Night duty at the hospital was taking its toll on her.
The bus zoomed off. The sidewalks suddenly looked attractive. She felt like lying down on it when she glimpsed an old, shabby-looking woman, huddled in a corner close to the bus stop bench. The woman leaned on the lamp post and hugged a thick, dirty blanket to herself. There was a small bowl beside her.
She slowly raised her head and met Angelica's stare.
Angelica was taken back for a moment by the bold look and smiled slightly. She walked towards the woman, bent a little and dropped some cash into her bowl.
"Stay warm," she whispered to the old woman, stood upright and slowly walked home.
"Mommy! I wanna take my new tricycle for a ride to see Sammy," Ethan yelled and belched at the same time which earned him a stern look from Angelica who was busy cleaning the kitchen after breakfast.
Ethan burst into laughter and covered his mouth. "Excuse me," he said.
"What did I say about morning rides?"
The six-year-old boy groaned. "Mommy! I don't have any assignments. I promised Sammy I will teach him to ride my tricycle after breakfast."
"Sure you finished your assignments?"
"Yes, mommy. Positive."
Angelica paused her cleaning of the counter, sighed and smiled at her chubby son. "Fine! Don't stay out too long. I want you back before lunch, okay?"
"Okay, mommy. Thank you!" Ethan hugged his mother's legs while she ruffled his curly dark hair.
"Remember, stay away from the road."
"Mom!" Ethan exclaimed, running out of the kitchen and through the back door to grab his 'new' but fairly-used tricycle Angelica bought for him from a yard sale a few weeks ago.
Angelica stretched and yawned. She was extremely tired and planned to wrap up her chores so she could get some sleep before Ethan returned from his play date.
Then...her ears picked up the sound of an approaching truck with a noisy engine. She noted absentmindedly that the roads were usually quiet at that time of the day as most residents had gone to work.
She went to look out of the window when she heard the loud screeching of the truck's tires and the screams of a woman.
Ethan!
Angelica ran out the back door like a crazy woman, almost pulling the fence door off its hinges as she was faced with a frightening sight. Paused right in the middle of the road was the big truck facing the shabby-looking woman she saw at the bus stop earlier. The woman held a shivering, pale Ethan tightly to herself.
Ethan's tricycle was crushed into an awkward shape underneath the truck's tires.
Angelica stood for a moment agape. The truck driver opened his door and jumped down. "I swear I did not see the boy," he explained and reflexively stretched out his hand to touch Ethan. The shabby woman muttered something and spat at him instead. The man was stunned.
Angelica ran towards the shabby woman, took her son from her and hugged him tightly. "Ethan! Are you okay?"
Angelica and the old woman stared at each other for a long moment, her mind trying to comprehend how the woman happened to be in the area precisely when her son needed saving.
A few neighbours came out to watch the scene as one of them, a middle-aged man, reproached the driver for such reckless driving on a residential road.
"Mommy? My tricycle," Ethan muttered, his lips curved downwards in sadness as tears pooled in his eyes.
"It's damaged, dearie. I'll get you another one, okay?" Angelica raised her head to thank the old woman but she was gone.
The following morning as the bus whined to a stop close to the bus stop, Angelica alighted fast and searched around desperately, her brain replicating the image of the shabby woman huddled in a corner close to the lamp post but in reality, the woman was gone.
Angelica never saw her again.
What I See
I see a boy riding a red tricycle, maybe along the street. The brown leaves littered on the ground reveals its likely autumn.
What I feel
I feel the boy's happiness at riding his tricycle in a serene environment.
This is my entry to A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words. To participate, click on the link.
Thank you for visiting my blog
All thanks to the shabby old woman who saved Ethan's life
As for the spoilt tricycle.... I'm sure Mom did replace it
It's a good thing Angelica was kind to the old woman at the beginning! Thanks a lot for your visit. !PIZZA 🙂
Kids and never having a sense for danger...
He could have easily said
Or to the woman
In a side note, how do you learn to ride a tricycle? 😂😂😂😂
😂 You are unbelievable! I don't know which to address first, the spoilt tricycle or the smell of the old woman. !LUV
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What???
You know that's how kids are😂😂😂
Ethan was too shocked to notice the shabby woman's smell. He worried more about his tricycle 😄
That's so typical of Ethan...
Not noticing details...
Prolly how he got run-over too😂😂😂
Thank you
So the driver did not give a tricycle to the child. Good, the shabby woman came to the rescue, a guardian angel?
Thanks for joining pic1000. 👍
Yes, the old woman is like a guardian angel, a case of one good turn deserves another.
He should have! 😅 Probably he was still recovering from the shock of not hurting the boy. Hehe. Thank a lot for reading! !PIZZA 🙂
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