nightmare
Terror at the Coast
It’s a new parents worst nightmare. Your 13 month old child is nowhere to be seen.
Going to the coast is always a family favorite. The Oregon coast is beautiful, accessible, and the water is COLD. When the wind isn’t blowing and the weather is sunny and warm it is a slice of the heavenly.
When Annie was young we were on vacation from our home in Washington and had scored a beautiful campsite at Beverly Beach State Park in Oregon. Our small four-man tent was pitched, picnic table arranged, food stored, fire pit readied, and the sound and taste of ocean waves were lingering in the air. It was paradise.
Each night as we went to bed we made sure the tent was securely closed. Annie had been walking/running since she was nine months old and nothing was off-limits as far as she was concerned. We made sure that both zippered doors were zipped tight , the luggage was set up as a barricade at the exit, and Annie slept on the opposite side of us as far from the doors as was possible. With this set up in place, we went to sleep each night secure in the idea that we were safe. That was about to be proved frighteningly wrong.
It was early, too early when Marm asked me, “Don, where’s Annie?”
“She’s over there where she sleeps,” I said while loosely flapping an arm in the general direction of her bed.
“No, she’s not,” Marm insisted. “Where is Annie?” This time the question was tinged with alarm.
“I don’t know. She’s got to be here somewhere,” was my irritated response. I was trying to sleep.
“Don! The tent door is open and Annie isn’t in here! Get up and find her now!”
That got my attention. I jumped out of my sleeping bag, stood there in my underwear, and looked through sleep encrusted unfocused eyes at the loose tent flaps. Marm was right, Annie was gone.
“Don’t just stand there. Go find her,” was Marm’s repeated encouragement to me. As I was hopping on one foot while trying desperately to pull my pants on, she was frantically shoving me toward the tent flap.
“Stop it!” I said. “I gotta get my pants on first. She’s probably playing in the campsite.”
When I stepped outside the tent half-dressed and unshod it became obviously clear that Annie was not there. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen.
Marm tumbled out shortly after me and said, “She’s been up awhile. Look at the cans on the table.”
It seemed that Annie had taken out some of the canned food and had been playing with it on the table. Other things had been moved around as well.
“I’m going to go check the bathrooms. You check the road,” Marm said as she ran off down the path.
I raced to the edge of the road, which was actually a loop that ran circular through our camp section, and looked both directions. Nothing! I sprinted to the end of the loop where it connects with the main park road to see if I could spot her anywhere. I couldn’t find her. Then I heard him, an older man with an amused grin on his face standing across the road from me. ”You look like someone looking for a little girl,” he said plainly.
“Have you seen her?” I asked more frazzled than I thought.
“I’ve been watching her for a while,” he said. “I knew someone would be looking for her shortly.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
He turned and pointed to her. I stood there frozen by what I saw next.
Annie was a couple hundred feet to my right. She was sitting up-to-her-chin in a box happy as a clam. The problem was that the box was sitting squarely between two full length cots about four feet apart. On the cots were two women fully asleep. I thanked the man profusely for keeping an eye on our baby and then headed toward our girl.
As I approached closer a horrifying thought ran through my head. I’m going to get right up to her and as I reach for her she’ll scream, “No!” and wake them both up. They’ll see her, then me, and proceed to beat the living daylights of me before they know the truth. I involuntarily moved my index finger to my closed lips using the international sign for keeping quiet. I hoped she knew what that meant. Now I was stepping between the two sleeping ladies and was one foot from the box when she said, “Hi Daddy,” with a huge and happy grin on her face.
Reaching down with outstretched arms she leapt up into my grasp without another word. Tenderly and slowly we slipped out from between the two unconscious women and made our way back toward where the man was still standing and watching us. I looked at him quizzically.
“I wanted to see how you were going to handle that before I left,” he said with a twinkle in his eye and a slight chuckle. I thanked him again as he turned and left us.
I headed back toward our campsite and met Marm coming toward us. She was so relieved to see Annie in my arms safe and sound. She took her from me immediately and hugged her like she had been gone for weeks. Blood pressures were beginning to return to normal.
A word to the wise: Be vigilant, and if you think your kids can’t escape, think again. They’re too smart for their own good. Maybe duct tape is the answer…
Curls & Capes 