Continuous Writing - As you were walking home from school...

As you were walking home from school, a small child approached you. The child was crying.

Trudging on the well-trodden path on my way home from school last Wednesday, I felt someone tugging at my sleeve from behind. I swiveled my neck to see a tear-streaked girl. She looked pathetically helpless. Immediately, I bent down to her level. Her doleful eyes seized my heart. I felt so sorry for Tanya, whom I found out later, was her name.

One hand resting on her shoulder, I asked in concern, "Why are you crying, little girl?"

She sobbed even harder. Wiping her tears away, she answered in between sobs that she had wandered away from her mother and had lost her way.

My heart melted. I could imagine her anxiety and fear, all alone, feeling insecure. I could remember vividly how I cried my heart out when I lost my parents in a crowd years ago when I was about the age of this girl. She was a lot braver and more intelligent than me. All I did was to whine and wail without knowing how to seek help.

"Don't worry, little girl. I will help you find your dad and mum," I consoled her in the most soothing tone I could manage.

"Thank you...," she muttered unclearly through her sobs.

I held her tiny hand. Along the way, the little girl was still crying. I braved myself to keep myself composed. Thoughts swirling through my mind, I rummaged my brain for a solution. I reckoned the most logical thing to do was to first inform my mother that I would be reaching home late.

I fished out my mobile phone from my pocket and did a quick dial on the keypad. I hastily told my mum about my encounter and hung up the phone. It was then that I noticed that the little girl had stopped in her tracks, refusing to take another step.

Her eyes shifted from my face to my phone which she gazed hard and intently upon. Puzzled, I wondered why the strong interest she had in my old-fashioned phone that I was so ashamed of.

"Can you lend me your phone? I can call my mother with that," she requested politely.

I was cursing my own stupidity when I watched the little girl jab on the buttons with great ease and deft. "What a clever girl!" I thought in my mind, "Why didn't I think of that?"

She returned me the phone after a short and clear conversation with the recipient on the other end of the line. Her expression took a drastic change. For the first time, she donned a smile.

"My mum said that she would greatly appreciate if you could take me the entrance of Tampines MRT Station. She said she will be there in ten minutes," the precocious girl said coherently.

This time, she snaked her little fingers into my hand and urged me to lead her to her destination. I gladly obliged. As we neared the MRT station, she slid her hands off my hands and dashed to a lady who was waving at her. "Tanya, mum is here!" she cried out.

She ran into her mum's open arms and turned around with a bright smile to wave a thank you wave. I waved back and mumbled sheepishly to myself, "Thank you for helping me to help you, Tanya. Hope to see you again!"