There was a very small

human on the loose yesterday. Small humans should not be travelling on their own. The idea terrifies me. It terrifies me with good reason. 
There was an accident in this state on Sunday. A car hit a two year old who had darted out into the street and the two year old did not survive. What the family and the driver of the car are going through is something I cannot even begin to comprehend. 

I had to go to the bank yesterday. I can travel home one of two ways. As I did not need to do anything else I chose the quieter, back street route. Pedalling along one of those back streets I saw two people from one of those religious organisations canvassing the street. You know the sort of people I mean. They were carrying their literature in an obvious and open fashion. I avoid such people. They have been asked not to call on us. I don't mind what other people believe as long as they do not attempt to convert me or otherwise attempt to impose their belief system on me. These people do. They prey on the grieving - something they tried with us. They irritate, perhaps even anger, me. I suppose I am not very tolerant. 

Yesterday however they made me not merely angry but furious. They went into a property on a suburban street. The place has a child proof lock on a high gate. The rest of the "fence" is a thick hedge. No child should be able to get out - unless someone leaves the gate open. They did. 
They must have gone to the front door and knocked and waited without observing what was going on behind them. I admit there was a tree in the way which would have partially blocked their view. Nevertheless they left the gate open - the gate with the child proof lock. 

The small human escaped. It only takes the blink of an eye.  I found him wandering along the street. He is only sixteen months old. Old enough to walk and to want to explore.  He is not old enough to be left unattended except in a safe area. His own garden has - I was shown it later - been carefully childproofed. 

But there he was in the street. I stopped. He stopped. We looked at one another. I looked around. There was no adult human in sight.

I pedalled up to him - and I grabbed just before he decided to wander off the footpath and into the road.

He was not terribly pleased about it so I offered a ride in my tricycle basket. (The rear basket is just large enough.) Holding him firmly with one hand and the handlebar firmly with the other I wheeled him back along the street looking for a likely house...the toys scattered across the driveway were a pretty fair indication. The canvassing couple had moved on. The gate had still not been shut properly. 

I entered the yard and shut the gate firmly and then banged as hard as I could on the front door. A shout from around the back told me,
"Go away! I'm not interested in your religion!"

"I'm not them - I think I have your child. He was out in the street," I called out.

There was a scream, running footsteps. A young woman appeared. 

"I think they left the gate open....or did not shut it properly..."

She took no notice of me. She went running down the street and - let fly. The only wonder to me is that she did not swear at them. She did as they say "tear strips" off them. They backed away but did not deny it - or apologise. 

She came back to me, still fuming and shaking. She showed me the garden. The small human should have been safe - except for that gate left open. 

"I thought it was them. I saw them coming up the street earlier and I never answer the door to those people. I was putting the clothes on the line. He went up the driveway."
I thought she was going to start crying but she gave me hug instead.
"Thankyou so much."

She followed me to the front gate and held him while I went out. I shut the gate again very firmly so that the childproof lock was secure. She was still thanking me again as I started to pedal off. 
I still feel shaken this morning. Goodness' knows how the mother feels. 
It puzzles me that you can apparently be so intent on saving souls that you cannot keep a small human safe.