Little Girl Lost

Has something like this ever happened to you when you are seeing houses? We finished up our last showing, shook hands and exchanged thoughts, then got in our cars to drive away. I turned a corner, maybe 15 yards away, and my client was stopped, perplexed, as she looked at a little girl from the neighborhood standing in the street right in front of her car. Weird. I parked and asked the Little Princess where her home was, and she didn’t say anything. I’d say she was maybe 4 years old. 

A neighbor who was sitting on her front step walked over, and we got the child to get out of the road, but she wouldn’t tell us her name or where she lived. However, after some prodding, she went into a nearby front door. My client (with 2 children in her own car) drove off as all appeared well. The neighbor returned to her cell phone call. I went back to my car, and spied my new friend sneaking back out of the house now that the coast was ostensibly clear. I hesitated; was I making too much of this? Not enough? I then asked myself if this were my daughter, Catherine, what I’d want me to do. That cleared things up in a hurry. 

Mindful that there was a neighbor nearby, I went to the house where the little lass opened the door and started ringing the bell. I crossed my fingers this was the right house, and kept her in the corner of my eye, playing in a yard across the street (thank God- a dead end road) while I waited for someone to come to the door. It was a 2-family home. I rang both bells. It seemed like a long wait but it was probably only a minute before Momma came down the stairs, looking like she just woke up. She looked at me perplexed until she saw me pointing to her little girl, and he eyes became wide as saucers. She was out there like a lightning bolt, taking her daughter inside, and nodded at me as they came back up the stairs. I told her I had a daughter, but I don’t think she spoke English. 

From the looks of things, Mommy worked a night shift and daughter figured out how to go outside while she slept. I doubt it will happen again. I was relieved I found her mother. I was self conscious and unsure of how things would appear if I couldn’t find her family. What if she were afraid of me or a neighbor thought I was trying to abduct her? Hell, my car was still running. Still, there is a certain confidence one feels when they know they are doing the right thing. If that were my child, I’d want the whole village watching her back. It helped that a neighbor was hip to all this.

As licensees we see more than kitchens and basements. We see abused and neglected pets, hoarders, vandalism, and many other things that cause us to pause and determine we cannot ignore or forget, but act upon. We aren’t behind desks all day, we are out seeing humanity. We are exposed to more. I think, every day, there are those among us who do the right thing because there is no one else around to handle it, not because we want praise or credit but because we have to sleep at night. I hope that little girl grows up and finds a cure for cancer or something.