It was cold and raining the night they found me. I was still very young, hugging my legs to my chest to try and stay warm, the cardboard box sticking out of the garbage can in the alley my only shelter. I shivered and my breath shuddered out in small puffs of visible air. I wondered if I would make it through that night. That's when I saw them; a family of three taking a walk under an umbrella. The dad held the umbrella and the mom carried a small boy who tried to stick his hand out from under the umbrella to feel the rain.
I watched as he struggled to reach the rain and his mother finally put him on the ground. He walked out from under the umbrella and jumped in the nearest puddle. The mother and father stood watching their child not saying anything, but they were smiling. I wondered why as I shivered again. They turned and called to the boy who looked up and began to follow, still jumping in puddles. A flash of lightening illuminated the ground followed by a crash of thunder and I jumped.
The movement must have caught the boys eyes because he turned in my direction then yelled for his parents. They turned and came running as he pointed at me, still yelling. Suddenly, his face was in front of mine. He was saying something, but I didn't understand. Then his parents were there and the mom was saying something in a whisper. Then she knelt down and held out her arms to me. I just stared at her not knowing what she wanted me to do. The boy put his hand on my arm and repeated what he had said before. The words I now know as "You're okay now. I've got you."
That was the night they brought me home.
