Damn shots. And kids on my lawn.
I was having trouble settling in because I had my shots today (such a good cat I am, but no -- flu shot and tetanus booster plus a titre to prove that i had shots 37 years ago sometime), and shivering like crazy even though I wasn't cold.
It was after midnight, so I was a little annoyed when we got our first trick or treat knock at, like, midnight thirty.
But when I put my eye to the window there was a teenage girl, crying and shivering, no coat, really looking terrified.
She had lost her cellphone while running down the street, and when she kinda freaked out over losing it (I can relate to this, having lost an iPhone recently) her friends abandoned her. Typical teenage stupid. But I was more concerned about what she said in passing: that her grandparents would have the belt out if she came home without it.
She was hyperventilating. I was glad she hadn't been attacked, that was the first thought I had when I opened the door. The second thought I had was that she looked Kieran's age. (Turns out she's two days older than him.)
We went outside to look and Dean came out after; he wound up finding the phone while she was making some phone calls in here.
It brought back some memories for me, of the crazy, stupid things I did in high school.
She was so nonplussed when Dean came back inside with the phone that she gave him a hug. I walked her back up the street to where another friend had promised to meet her. She seemed ok, the friend was righteous pissed at the ones that had left her.
I hope she's ok, in the grander sense of things. I made it through. I realize I care so much about teenage girls, because... I don't have one, but I was one once.
I wonder if I can channel that more positively, like by volunteering at the high school or something. In my copious free time.
It was after midnight, so I was a little annoyed when we got our first trick or treat knock at, like, midnight thirty.
But when I put my eye to the window there was a teenage girl, crying and shivering, no coat, really looking terrified.
She had lost her cellphone while running down the street, and when she kinda freaked out over losing it (I can relate to this, having lost an iPhone recently) her friends abandoned her. Typical teenage stupid. But I was more concerned about what she said in passing: that her grandparents would have the belt out if she came home without it.
She was hyperventilating. I was glad she hadn't been attacked, that was the first thought I had when I opened the door. The second thought I had was that she looked Kieran's age. (Turns out she's two days older than him.)
We went outside to look and Dean came out after; he wound up finding the phone while she was making some phone calls in here.
It brought back some memories for me, of the crazy, stupid things I did in high school.
She was so nonplussed when Dean came back inside with the phone that she gave him a hug. I walked her back up the street to where another friend had promised to meet her. She seemed ok, the friend was righteous pissed at the ones that had left her.
I hope she's ok, in the grander sense of things. I made it through. I realize I care so much about teenage girls, because... I don't have one, but I was one once.
I wonder if I can channel that more positively, like by volunteering at the high school or something. In my copious free time.