Little Bit of Love
"Come ON Iggy!" Alfred whined. I held his small hand in my own as he pulled with his massive strength for me to hurry. I picked up the small child and carried him to the park ticket booth. The carnival had come through and that's one of our traditions, no matter where we are we always come home for the carnival. It was little Alfred's favorite time of the year and I loved to see him so happy.
"One adult and one child's ticket please," I said handing the cashier the money while she strapped a wristband onto both of us. The little one in my arms squirmed furiously as we walked toward the first of the rides. I set the little guy down carefully so that I didn't drop him with all his thrashing. He immediately took off without me.
"Alfred! Alfred come back here! ALFRED!" I said running in the direction of my charge. I looked around in the crowd for the boy but he was nowhere to be found. Panic gripped me as I thought of how anyone could make off with the small boy and he would never fight or try to get away. I ran around almost the whole park and didn't see him anywhere. I asked some of the workers and a very nice woman directed me to a tent with the police force symbol on the side.
"Hello sir, how may I help you?" a blonde woman asked.
"I'm looking for a small child! He's about this tall," I said gesturing how tall Alfred was, "He's got blonde hair bright blue eyes! His name's Alfred! I have to find him now!" I yelled frantically. "I've been looking for him for almost ten minutes."
"Calm down sir," she said placing a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find your son."
"He's not my son. I'm just his caretaker," I said.
"What's you name sir?" she asked pulling out a form.
"Arthur, Arthur Kirkland," I said trying to calm down.
"I assume that he has the same last name as you?"
"No, his name is Alfred F. Jones." I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to ward off the migraine.
"Alright do you have a picture of the child?" she asked sweetly. I pulled out my wallet and got the "family photo" as Francis insisted on calling it. It was a simple picture of me and Al. I was holding up the giggly boy and he was grinning goofily. I handed it to her and she nodded.
"Well what now?" I demanded.
"We're going to get a small squad in here so that we can locate the child," she started but I cut her off.
"By then he could be gone! Someone could have taken him! You wait here and I'll go look for Alfred on my own!" I walked out angrily. I flipped open my cell phone and dialed my last resort, Francis. It was immediately picked up.
"Bonjour mon ami!" Francis said.
"Francis I need you!" I said frantically.
"I wondered when you would realize," he said sighing dramatically.
"No! I mean I need you to meet me at the carnival, Alfred ran off and I can't find him!" I said choking down some tears.
"Mon cher, how did this happen?" he asked genuinely concerned. Even though we had our differences he still liked my little charge Alfred.
"He saw the rides and I set him down but before I could grab his hand he had run off into the crowd. Please Francis help me!" I said.
"Je serai juste la ma cherie!" the line went dead and I thought about where I would go if I were Al. I had already checked all those places! I sat on the bench right in front of the gates and when I saw Francis with Matthew I jumped out of my skin. We were looking for a lost child so he brought another!
"Hello Francis, Matthew," I said calmly.
"Come ma cherie let's go find Alfred!" and with that Francis started looking for him. We were resting right outside the carousel after we had searched the park up and down. I put my head between my knees and cried silently. I had lost Al and I may never find him. I felt a hand rubbing circles on the small of my back. I looked up to see Francis smiling and Matthew looking at me curiously over his stuffed bear. "We'll find him."
I nodded and that's when it hit me. We hadn't looked in one place. I shot up and jumped the fence to the carousel and watched for a small head of blonde hair. I heard someone yelling but I just watched it sin around and around and finally I saw the head of blonde locks I was looking for. The carousel slowed to a stop. The man unloaded all the children and when Alfred got off I ran and dropped to my knees and hugged him to me tightly.
I felt the tears running hotly down my face. I kissed the side of Alfred's head and then gripped his shoulders. "Alfred F. Jones if you ever scare me like that again I swear I'll…" but I let the threat trail off as a fit of sobs wracked my body. I hugged the small boy to my chest and rocked him and myself. He hugged me and I could tell he didn't understand why I was so scared.
"It's okay Iggy, everything will be alright," he said soothingly into my hair like I had to him so many times. He petted my hair and I straightened up and wiped my face. I picked up the boy and he kissed my nose.
"J'aime une fin heureuse!" Francis said. I picked up my little one and hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry Iggy," he whispered with a yawn.
"It's okay love," I said and gave the boy a peck on the cheek. "Let's go home." The little boy nodded and with Francis and Matthew in tow we walked to my car and drove home.
~Time Skip 20 some years~
"Come ON Iggy!" Alfred yelled and took off. Some things just never change.
Francis's Sayings in French
Je serai juste la ma cherie= I'll be right there my darling
J'aime une fin heureuse= I love a happy ending