Page 136 of We Drank the Dawn

The engine grew louder, about to pass us.

My fingers found a crinkly plastic bag and gave it a shake. Probably Goldfish or something.

But before I even opened the crackers, the stroller jutted backwards against my leg, knocking my cane to the ground, as Wren’s thap-thap-thap made a beeline for the playground.

Panic sliced through my chest.

I dropped the snack. “No! Wren!”

Trained on the sound of her undeterred footsteps, I bolted after her, leaning down.

Bea screamed behind us.

My fingers slipped around her shoulders, clamping down.

Tires screeched.

I yanked Wren off the ground without breaking my stride until my feet stumbled over a curb. Unable to right my footing in the dark, we went down—one of my hand’s squeezing Wren to my chest, the other furrowing into a bed of wood chips. My knees struck the concrete curb, and some sort of bush scraped my face. Wren started to wail.

The vehicle door flew open. A woman’s voice shrieked with near-hysteria. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see her! I’m so sorry!”

I slowly sat up out of the flower bed and situated Wren on my knee. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

She buried her tears in my shirt and I patted her back, completely numb with shock.

The woman driving was the first to reach us, kneeling down on the curb, crying her eyes out as she put her hand on my back.

It was only then that I realized where the vehicle had stopped.

Past us.

The door ajar ping was a couple feet beyond me.

She would’ve hit Wren.

That was when I started shaking, the gush of adrenaline warming my veins.

“Wren!” Bea’s rushed to our side. Wren’s hands immediately lifted to her mama and Bea scooped her up as a terrified sob lifted from her lips. “Oh my goodness—thank God. Wren, I’m so sorry—” Her words choked off. “Are you hurt, baby? Are you hurt?”

Wren’s cries evened out, sniffles taking their place.

Hollie was suddenly there, her hand on my shoulder as she brushed mulch off my pants. “Are you okay?”

My tongue stuck in my dry mouth as I swallowed. My voice was shaky and breathless. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“What happened?” She asked.

I shook my head, trying to remember. All of it happened so fast, in only seconds. “Wren—she wanted to go to the playground. She ran. And I heard the car.”

“So you ran after her?” Hollie’s voice held a note of awe.

I nodded, confused. My brain had a hard time believing it. For a few beats I wondered if I’d momentarily regained my sight or something. Because I knew where Wren was. I knew where the car was. And I didn’t think or question my ability or doubt my intuition.

I just…ran.

The slightest misjudgment and we both would’ve gotten hurt.

Our party moved back to the sidewalk and the woman moved her truck out of the road. Everyone gathered around, asking questions and demanding I tell the story again. My sisters kept acting like what I did was a big deal, but I could barely hear them. Every interaction warped as my brain dissected what happened. A blanket of mental fog dimmed my awareness of my surroundings as I tuned in to my body.