Remembered From Earlier:

On my home today after meeting Best Friend 1 & Squidgum in town (that would be the escape from the dog that I mentioned earlier) I ended up passing by St. Georges Park, and as I neared the gate I overheard a mother talking to her son. He wanted to play in the park; really really wanted to play in the park. And she wanted him to, too; but first a few ground rules...
    Yes, she said, he could play in the park, but only until his watch said 3-pm; after that he would have to come home because Grandpa was coming to visit. And yes, he could go anywhere in the park, except for the bicycle and skateboard ramps because he did not have either of those things and it would be dangerous. And, of course, he wasn't to talk to any strangers. Oh, and he wasn't to try somersaulting off of the top of the climbing frame again, either; because that was silly and the last time he had tried that he had ended up having to go to hospital and get stitches in his head, which had frightened her to death and made daddy cross.
    The little boy eagerly agreed to all of this and after a hurried kiss ran as fast as he could to the park with the kind of joyous abandon that only small children and dogs tend to have.
    Reaching me a few seconds later, he zoomed around me like a little blond haired bullet and made the following breathless declaration:

"Excuse me, grown up lady, but I am going to the park now and I need to run REALLY REALLY FAST!"

Well, I said; that that was great, and he was to have fun.

"Thank you!" he shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared through the gate: "Bye!"

"Bye," said I, in return.

That was it. A witness of maternal concern and a brief encounter between me and a boy that I may never meet again. And I'm not sure...maybe it doesn't translate so well second hand, or was one of those you-had-to-be-there-to-get-it moments, but I found the whole thing to be incredibly cute. It made me smile as I meandered the rest of the way home, anyway.
    I hope he did end up having fun.
    And I hope that one day he manages to make that somersault off of the top of the climbing frame successfully...

Alice xxx