Dalton
A few weeks ago, my oldest, Wilder, got lost in the woods on the other side of our field. As with most five-year-old boys, he likes to wander. He’s an explorer, often seen with a bag or backpack packed with whatever tools he’s deemed necessary for the day’s journey. A wrench, a bag of goldfish crackers, a spent shotgun shell, once my debit card, and always, always keys. He is also usually accompanied by two of our dogs, Dalton and Dill.
That afternoon, between the time he said “I’m going outside” to the time I had the other child’s shoes on and outside, he disappeared. He was just…gone. He had never left the property before, but after quickly checking all of his usual spots, I felt the first twinge of panic. I called my husband who came downstairs from his office and we searched again, this time on four-wheelers, expanding the search into the neighbor’s field and woods. We went almost a mile perimeter around our house, screaming his name so hard my chest hurt. Nothing, and so windy that day that he probably wouldn’t have heard us unless he was close. I could see panic on Jimmy’s face too, and I called the police, who started mobilizing a helicopter and who told us to stop looking in the woods so their dogs would have a clearer trail.
I felt so weak in my stomach and knees that I couldn’t stop shaking. I was praying with my whole heart. A tiny voice inside me suddenly said, he’s with Dalton, and I knew he wouldn’t leave him. There was small comfort there, but comfort all the same. It only took five minutes for a sheriff to arrive, but I think I held my breath every minute of it, watching Jimmy continue to circle the field on our side, staring so intently into the woods that my eyes hurt. He was so brave but so naive. So many dangers in the woods, in the world. Please God, I prayed over and over, and just as I saw the sheriff turn into our drive, Jimmy called and said, “I can see him,” and everything inside me crumpled. He would later tell me that he could see Wilder walking towards him; swinging his arms, carefree as can be, Dalton on one side, Dill on the other. Wilder claimed he wasn’t lost at all, and when Jimmy took him back to see where he had gone, it was a mile from our house. He had walked through a cow field, crossed a creek and climbed the side of a mountain.
Later, when I was putting him to bed, he told me, “Mama, I was lost out there. I looked around and didn’t know where I was.” I felt my chest tighten, the anxiety of all that could have happened. “What did you do?” I asked him. He shrugged and said, “I just followed Dalton.”
These angels that walk among us, you know, sometimes they have four legs and a tail.
