Watch for the Children
Another “Lost Boy” True Story
Some of you will remember the “lost boy” story I shared this past summer about my 5-year-old grandson getting lost (and found) at a North Carolina beach.
Recently I was a little surprised to see a boy, probably 5-7 years old, shopping (playing?) around all by himself with some bicycles outside one of our local Walmart stores. It was Dec. 1 and it was cold.
I pondered, where was his mother? Or father? Surely they were not far away.
I was hunting for an item my husband wanted/needed and he had asked me to find it since I was in town and he wasn’t. I finally found the item on a shelf—also outside. It seems funny to have items stored outside on a freezing day—and with no clerk or helper around. I was getting ready to go back inside the store to check out when I decided to ask the boy if he was lost.
To somewhat of a surprise, he nodded yes. I said “Oh, you don’t know where your mom or dad are?
He shook his head. He had dark black hair, huge beautiful black eyes, but he looked—well, lost. He looked sad but was not crying.
I said, “Would you like me to help find your mom?” He said yes. He spoke very clear English.
So we went inside, I was carrying the item my husband wanted, and then we got to another toy aisle. He looked happier, being among lots of toys, but when I asked if he thought he could find his mommy, he shook his head no. He looked somewhat puzzled and like he was still open for some help.
So we walked to a bigger wider aisle and at that point I saw a Walmart employee, probably more than someone who just sorts or straightens up clothes. She was six steps or so ahead of me so I called out “There’s a lost boy here.” She stopped, looked at us, and called over another employee and asked the other woman to take charge.
I was relieved. I didn’t really want to be responsible for him, and I needed to hurry home. And it looked like he was in the hands of professionals.
I hope. And pray. And wonder how many other kids get lost in a large department store. I pray none are misused or abused or, God forbid, kidnapped. My children got lost among clothing racks a time or two, but we were mostly nearby.
At any rate, as the season wears on, God help us all to watch out for the children. And call on staff to take over as needed. I thought of the song our family used to sing that we had on a record telling children that if they got lost, “Look for a grandma or mother with children.”
This is not a real boy. AI helped create this picture.
Here is more help: https://www.safewise.com/blog/what-to-do-when-your-child-goes-missing/
findingharmonyblog 
As you suggest, there is much more to the story of the lost boy than you could discern. He may or may not have been one of the children that are”dropped off” or abandoned every day. This boy was not crying and cooperated with your willingness to help; I wonder if this has happened to him before.
Anyway, you did the best you could. I’m sure Walmart employees hear requests like this often and make attempts to find a parent or guardian. We can pray for the best outcome!
Your thoughts and comments are interesting, I had not given any thought that someone could be just dropped off/abandoned.
These things are unimaginable to most of us–something that only happened centuries ago when families literally could not take care of their children during the Depression and more. A friend of mine shared the stories of children in Ethiopia who are without a family. Check this out: Watch Out, Woosha by Rosemary Shenk who lived in various places in Africa. (I did a review on Amazon.) God be with them all, we must pray.