Chapter 1

I see him standing all by himself by the swing set.   He can’t be much more than three years old.  Dressed in blue shorts, a white tee shirt with a picture of the Cookie Monster on the front and brown sandals, he looks clean and well cared for.  The park is empty this time of morning, just a little before 7:00 am, and I’m surprised to see this little boy all alone.  I don’t usually cut through the children’s park during my morning run but today I did; lucky for this little boy.  I slow to a walk so I won’t scare him.

“Hi.”  “What’s your name?”  I ask in a soft voice.  He looks up at me but doesn’t say anything.  His eyes are brown and much too sad for a child this young.

“Where’s your mommy?”  Again, I speak softly but he still doesn’t answer.

I hold out my hand and he hesitantly takes it and I walk with him over to a park bench.  I sit down and he stays standing off to my side.

“Are you here at the park all by yourself?”  This time he nods his head yes.

“Do you know where your mommy is?”

I ask hoping to get a clue as to what is going on before I decide what to do.  He looks up at me and his eyes are filled with tears.  I put my arms out inviting him to sit on my lap.  He climbs up and I feel his little body trembling.  I don’t want to frighten him so I wrap my arms around him gently and just hold him for a moment.  When I feel his body begin to relax a little I start to rock him gently.  I stroke his head and tell him it’s alright and I won’t leave him.  He begins to cry, almost silently, and his tears fall on my arm.   I continue to rock him gently and speak to him softly while he cries out all the tears he’s been holding back.  Finally, I feel him take a deep breath and then just relax in my arms.  He’s exhausted.  His tears stop and he snuggles his head against my shoulder.  We sit together quietly for a while.

“Dylan is that you?”  I hear these words not so much with my ears but with my heart.

The little boy sits up and looks over my shoulder.  I can tell he recognizes her voice. 

“Dylan, so that’s your name” I say to the little boy.  “Is that your mommy?”

He doesn’t answer but he gives me a hug and climbs down from my lap.  I turn around and see a young woman with long brown hair dressed in a pretty summer dress with a sweater draped over her shoulders.  She is standing at the edge of the park with her arms stretched out toward us.  Dylan begins to walk to her.  I feel relieved that his mother has showed up.  I turn around and bend down to retie my sneakers before I head over to speak with her.  When I’m done I stand up and turn to where Dylan’s mother was standing but no one is there.  I look all around and I don’t see anyone.  The park is quiet and deserted, but I sense everything is alright now.  Dylan is safe with his mother.

I check my watch and see that it’s 7:30 am and continue with my run.  When I reach the other side of the park I see way down to the right there are police cars.  Wondering what happened I head that way.

I can’t get very close since there are many police officers as well as a few reporters and people who live in the apartment building.  I see police tape strung across the back of the apartment building preventing anyone from going back there.  I ask an older woman, who is dressed in her robe, what happened.  She can only tell me what others have told her.  The body of a child was found in the dumpster around 7:15 this morning.  That’s all she knows.

When I get home from work I turn on the evening news and there it is the lead story of the night.  The news anchor is visibly upset as she recaps and reports the most recent developments.

“This morning around 7:15 am the bruised and broken body of a little boy was found in a dumpster behind the Pelican Apartments.  Police estimate the body was placed there between 2 & 3 this morning.  Police don’t know the identity yet but has given us a description hoping someone will recognize him.  He has light brown hair and brown eyes.  He is believed to be around three years old.  He was found wearing a torn white tee shirt with a picture of the Cookie Monster on the front, dirty blue shorts and one brown sandal. . . .  .”