Caution Signs

The little boy remained immobile in the middle of the street clinging to his tiny toy soldier. The boy's breath came and went in short heavy bursts. Like the tiny soldier he grasped in his hands, his eyes were green and blank.

A car horn blasted.

"Hey kid get out of the street!"

The boy did not move. He stared at the prize in his hand never looking toward the car.

"Come on kid get out of the street! What's the matter with you? Are you deaf or something?"

The boy stared at the soldier, but never moved an inch. He started to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet.

The driver got out of his car and walked up to the boy. "Hey son, didn't your mother every tell you not to play in the road?"

The boy continued to rock back and forth staring down at the soldier.

The driver leaned down next to the boy. He watched the boy as he rocked. He held out his hand to the boy. "Come on, let's get you out of the street before you get hurt."

The boy did not take the man's hand and continued to rock and stare at the soldier.

"Come on, buddy, you can't park there! Move it!"

"Hold on. There's some kid over here that won't move out of the road." The driver turned back to the boy. He reached for the boy. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

The boy threw himself on his back screaming, banging his head on the pavement.

"Oh, my God!" The driver covered his ears. "Please don't do that. You're going to hurt yourself."

The other driver got out of her car and ran up to the first driver. "Holy crap. What'd you do to that poor kid?"

"I just tried to get him out of the street and he started screaming."

The woman driver sneered at him and started to reach for the boy. "Come on honey! Stop that. You need to get out of the street."

The boy continued to screech and bang his head. Little spots of red started to form underneath his head.

"Oh, my God. Look, he's bleeding," the man shouted.

The woman put her hand under the boy's head and the boy continued to bang his head against her hand.

"Come on, Sweetie, you need to stop. Please!" She glared up at the man. "Don't just stand there. Go find out where this kid came from."