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This is a 5 Minute Freewrite with the prompt - Naked Baby - and you can find the orginal post HERE to join in the fun.

When I saw the prompt for today’s Freewrite - Naked Baby - I was immediately taken back in my mind to one of the scariest occasions in child rearing I ever experienced.

👀 Naked Runaway 👀

First a little background. We lived in a very small community about 5 blocks wide and 3 blocks long located on the north side of a busy highway in a rural area. Our house was the last one on a dead-end road and we had 4 acres, with the backyard fenced in and enclosing the house and a large stand-alone garage.

This Sunday afternoon was very ordinary. My husband was outside in the garage changing the oil in the truck. The large roll-up door was open as well as the side door that opened from the garage to the fenced-in backyard. Josh, 14 months old, was peacefully swinging in the wind-up-swing and Ryan, who was 3, was ready for a bath after getting very dirty playing in the sand pile. I had Ryan undressed and the bathwater ready when the phone rang.

I answered the phone and talked for maybe 5 - 10 minutes then went to get Ryan to put him in the tub. He was nowhere to be found. He had gone out the back door into the yard, which normally would not be a problem. But he also walked out the open garage side door then out the open overhead door while my husband was underneath the truck changing the oil.

Panic! We had no idea whether he’d went out the back towards the woods (and the railroad track!) or if he’d headed down the road toward the neighborhood houses (and the busy highway!)

Randy headed out back toward the railroad track and I headed down the road toward the neighbors.

At the first house, an older man was sitting outside in a lawn chair. “Have you seen my little boy?” I called out to him.

“Was he naked?” says the old geezer.

“YES! Where did he go?” And the man pointed down the road and said: “He went that way.”

I continue down the road and there are two neighbors working on the side of their house.

“Have you seen my son?” I called.

“Was he naked?” the woman said. “He was headed that way.” And she pointed to the highway!

SERIOUSLY! Now 3 people in the space of 2 blocks have seen a naked 3-year-old toddler running down the street and NO ONE STOPS HIM??

Now I’m running down the main road toward the highway with my heart thundering in terror.

Then I see the neighbors that live on the corner right on the highway walking toward me carrying Ryan. They said he made it to the highway and they picked him up and were on the way to bring him home. He was happy as a clam - on his way to see the tractors that are always parked at the dealership on the other side of the highway.

If you enjoy writing short fiction stories (less than 1,000 words) I'd love to have you join me on Narrative. Don't abandon STEEM - add Narrative and cross post your Steem content for more exposure. Here's a link directly to my page featuring Flash Fiction:

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[credit@EdibleCthulhu]