“Hey Josh,” I yelled as I rushed thru the house, “Look at the parachute man!” I’d just seen him; a man falling from the sky in a neon parachute; from the front seconds earlier. He had already nearly landed in the backyard when Josh turned to look. “Whoa,” he might’ve exclaimed in response. It was instant surprise and excitement as we both looked up thru the big window area over the back door.
By the time we made it to the door, that window view was covered by the sight of a huge parachute that hadn’t yet deflated. “Where did you come from,” I asked the man, a black guy probably 40-something or 50-something years old. He was friendly as he explained, saying something about the local pine straw dealer. I forgot his exact words. I was more concerned about the possibility of him snatching Josh.
He didn’t do anything to make me think he’d try something like that. I just thought of how easy it would be for him to snatch him; Josh was a kid, probably around ten years old; and take off in the parachute. As far as kidnapping a kid and not getting caught by the police goes, it, in my mind, would’ve been like the perfect crime, so I stood behind Josh, close enough to react if he tried, as we continued to chat.
2016 ( March 05 )