Lost Child

By PJM
“I told you if you’re going to play soccer after school, I’m not following!” I heard Mary scream at the top of her lungs.

“Well, don’t!” Jack retorted.

Being the peacemaker, I closed in and said amiably, “Stop arguing. Let’s go for a picnic at the beach instead.”

Jack and Mary stuck their tongues out at each other childishly. They are always at loggerheads with each other, despite being friends since kindergarten.

After school, we arranged to meet after packing some food for the picnic. Without even changing out from our school uniforms, we were on our way to Changi Beach.

As soon as we arrived at the beach, we looked for a shady spot to lay out our picnic mat. While we were eating the snacks that we had brought along, a little boy came towards us. He was crying.

In front of us, stood a little boy who was no more than four years of age. He had a light tan and was donned in a tee-shirt decorated with cartoon prints and matching shorts. He kept using his hands to wipe tears from his almond- shaped eyes.

Mary, being the most compassionate among us, went forward to ruffle the little boy’s dark brown locks and urged him to tell us his predicament. The little boy slowly related his story. It turned out that he had wandered away from his parents who were soaking up the sun and got lost.

“Don’t be afraid, we will find your mummy and daddy”, reassured Mary. I nodded in agreement. While the both of us viewed the child as someone in need, Jack perceived him as an intruder who disrupted his peaceful picnic.

“I am not helping this child, it’s his own fault that he is lost, not ours!” snapped Jack irritably, refusing to leave the picnic mat.

It took much persuasion on our part, before Jack relented and offered the child a helping hand. The little boy was over the moon to have three Samaritans by his side and demonstrated his pleasure by putting an end to those tears.

After a detailed discussion, we came to a consensus. Mary would keep the little boy company while I scoured the beach for the child’s parents, leaving the most elementary task of informing the Beach Patrol Officers about the missing child to Jack.

We were barely an hour into our tasks when an anxious couple reported to the Beach Patrol to file a report about their missing son. The officer made no delay to notify Jack when the couple’s description of their child matched his. It was then Jack’s turn to pass the news on to Mary and me to gather at the Beach Patrol Station where the couple was waiting in fervent hope.

“Mummy! Daddy!” The little boy shrieked. Upon seeing his parents, the little boy wept. This time, tears of joy flowed down his face. The little boy and his parents expressed their immense gratitude to the three of us by offering each of us money for taking care of their son, which we politely declined.

Upon Jack’s request, we returned to our shady spot for our picnic. Between bites, I recounted the events that had taken place over the previous hour and it dawned on me that this was the first time Mary and Jack worked together without quarrelling. Helping others does bring out the best in us.