Handle My Kids With Care

The Paint Disaster

"Dad? Can I help paint the rooms?"

"I was really hoping you and Minho were going to help since it would take too long on my own." I watched Changbin struggle under the weight of one paint can when I then saw Jisung and Hyunjin trying to carry another. I thought I had given the paint can to Minho...

"Where's Minho?" The boys looked around at each other and shrugged. The seven year old definitely left the store with me, and I somehow lost him from there to the parking lot that was attached to the building.

"Changbin, lock the car and stay with the boys. Don't open the door for anyone. I'll be right back." He nodded and I shut the car door after I knew all of the boys were buckled and in there. Everyone but Minho.

...

"Hey Dad-"

I turned around to show him the bridge I had just found in the distance, but no one was there. I had only walked down the street, they wouldn't leave without me, right? There's eight of us though, Dad probably wouldn't notice I was gone until he got home.

"Well, I bet I could find our new house on the bridge." I said to myself as I started walking in the direction of the architecture. I could see that the sidewalks on the bridge went up really high, so it wouldn't be hard to find my way back.

After crossing a couple of streets and dodging in between people, I had finally made it to the center of the bridge. The wind whipped around me and fluttered my shirt, making me grab onto the railing on the side. I looked down the bridge to see a kid younger than me lifting themselves onto the bar so their chest rested on the bar and they could see higher up.

"I've done that before at the zoo."

I lifted myself up and my ribcage dug into the metal bar at the top. So it wouldn't hurt as much, I raised myself even higher so I was hovering above the bar just long enough to try and look for our house. Now which one-

My hands slipped out from underneath me and my ribcage slammed right into the bar. I tried reaching for the concrete, but all I could feel was air as my legs kicked around. I was folded in half over a railing and looking straight down into the water.

"Help!" I couldn't remember many people on the bridge, just mainly cars driving by at fast speeds. No one would notice a seven year old boy slowly slipping over the railing. The wind speeds seemed to pick up and tears pricked my eyes. I should have never come. I should have never come. It was a bad idea. I should have never-

A pair of arms lifted me up and I could finally feel solid ground beneath my feet. I rubbed my chest in pain and looked up at whoever had saved me, expecting it to be my dad. Instead it was just some stranger looking at me in concern.

"Thank you, Sir." I bowed politely but then ran off before he could ask me any questions. I didn't care about finding my way home, I just wanted off of the bridge.

I ran along the streets as it started to lightly snow on me. I wasn't dressed to be out this long in the cold. I was only in a pair of jeans and a thick coat, but I could start to feel my fingers, nose and ears freeze up.

I eventually gave up on running and walked until I found a park. The sun was slowly going down as it got darker, and street lights turned on. I had no idea where I was, and I curled up in one of the completely covered slides on the playground to block myself from the wind and snow.

"What the?" Distinct sounds of a baby crying could be heard, and they were so high pitched I had to cover my ears with my beat red hands.

"Who brings a baby out at night in the snow?" The cries went on for a minute longer before I decided to go fully down the slide and investigate. The source of the cries were easy to find; it was a baby on a park bench. But that was it. No one was around this baby and he wouldn't stop wailing. He wasn't even dressed in anything warm enough.

"It's okay. I've got you." I picked up the baby like I was taught to with my little brothers and held him close to try and warm him up. I ended up unzipping my jacket to provide a little more warmth to him, and he eventually stopped crying. Except now I was frozen.

"I think we need to go find some help."