The kid had been out for a minimum of two hours, she thought. A lifetime for worried parents.
But toddlers didn’t have any real sense of time. Children of his age were very mobile, she mused, and didn’t always understand the concept of being lost. They wandered, distracted by sights and sounds, and had considerable endurance, so it might be hours of that wandering before Hugh tired out and realized he wanted his mother.
She watched a rabbit skitter away into the brush. Peck had too much dignity to do more than spare it a passing glance.
But a little boy? Fiona thought. One who loved his “Wubby,” who enjoyed animals? One his mother said was fascinated by the forest? Wouldn’t he want to try to catch it, probably hoping to play with it?
He’d try, wouldn’t he, to follow it? City boy, she thought, enchanted with the woods, the wildlife, the other of it all.
How could he resist?
The Search
_______________
There's a hierarchy of survival skills that are appropriate
for children.
For any parent, the idea of your children wondering lost and
alone in the wilderness is a terrifying one. A family in California had their
worst fears come true on March 1, 2019.
Two sisters, ages 8 and 5, miraculously survived 44 hours
alone in the woods in freezing temperatures. But it wasn't just luck that kept
them safe.
_______________
“Where'd you find him?” Trent asked Nathaniel quietly.
“Up on the cliffs, holed up in a crevice in the rocks.”
“Good God.” C.C. shuddered. “Did he spend the night up there?”
“Looked that way. I had this feeling, I can't explain it. And there he was.”
Megan's Mate