The Toddler

One day, when my daughter was 8, she was playing outside by herself, and I was in the house watching TV.

She came dashing in, frantic.

“Dad! There’s a baby  walking down the street!”

I sat straight up. “What? Where are the parents? Go get him! Get him out of the street!”  I was furious she would run in to tell me a baby was walking down the street when she should have just gotten him.

“No. I mean –.”

“What?” I thought this was a prank, but couldn’t be sure. Our street is a busy one, and I was already going outside. “Is there a baby or not?”

“No, he’s there. He’s not real! I mean he’s not real, but… he’s…”

By now, we were on the sidewalk, and she pointed to the alley. There was nothing there.

I asked her to describe what she saw. She said he was a toddler that had walked down the alley, and now had stopped and was looking at us. It had freaked her out.

I asked what he was doing. She said, “Just standing there,” more or less glowing. I asked if it was in our yard, and she said no.

I said, “In the name of Jesus, go!” And asked what she saw. She said, “He’s shimmering.” She put her hands out and started shaking them.

“But he didn’t leave?”

“No.”

“But he’s not in our yard.”

“No.”

I shrugged, “Well leave it alone.” I turned to go inside.

“Dad. How can I play with it right there?”

A good question, but then she said, “Oh. He went through a portal. He’s gone.”

I asked what she meant by portal, and she described something she saw on Phineas and Pherb, this show on the Disney Channel, where little cartoon characters went through a portal to another dimension.

Yes, my daughter is learning quantum physic from Disney.

Anyway, there was no deception in her eyes. She was visibly freaked out at first, but my confident, calming presence relaxed her. I have no idea what she saw, but I do believe she saw something. And I’m not going to berate her for her gift.