Lost

On our recent trip to Sydney, the kids and I were catching a train one wet afternoon. We were waiting on the stairs like a number of commuters for the train to come in. Two trains drew into the platform, so we moved up the stairs to jump on ours. My just-turned-8 son skipped ahead of me and around a couple of people. By the time I got up the 5 or 6 stairs he was nowhere to be seen.

My first fear was that he'd somehow been pulled under the train, then I thought he'd jumped on one of the carriages. So I called out to him. I called out a couple of times, getting more frantic with each call. One man had the good sense to see that I was in a panic, so he had the train stopped and they put a call over the loud speaker. Nothing happened. Meanwhile I'm really starting to worry about where he could have disappeared to in just a few seconds.

Then another passenger came over and said he thought he'd seen a young boy jump on the other train. So the rail staff decided he was definitely on that train and let our train go. Looking back onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge there were 2 other trains waiting to come into the station - it's not every holiday that you get to shut down the Sydney rail network during peak hour!

The rail staff took us into the control room where they were trying to get the other train stopped at the next station. They had decided to put a call over the loud speaker when it got to that station, and if that didn't work they would organised for the transit staff to physically inspect the train at the following station. It was about this time the other children burst into tears fearing they'd never see their brother again.

Thankfully, at that moment he had been presented at the control room at the next station by a friendly adult on the other train. It took us another 15 minutes to be reunited, but it all ended out good in the end, although I'm sure I've aged a little from the experience! So what did happen? Well he got on the wrong train. The doors had closed when he heard me yelling, so he knocked on the door. And that's when the good samaritan stepped in.

And what have I learnt? That even the best kids will do the wrong thing sometimes and all we can do is hope they have enough common sense to get themselves out of trouble. That there are more people in the world who will help a child, than harm them. And that children are treasures - the thought of never seeing them again is too horrible to even contemplate.

"Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children!" - Psalm 127:5