Traffic and the Little Red Shoe

Audrey's favorite shoes

The six lane road we cross to the park.

Chad had warned me that there was lots of crazy traffic in Bucharest, even suggesting that we purchase a harness for Audrey to keep her out of harms way. "Oh, fiddlesticks, we'll be careful, we'll be fine."

After school yesterday, I took the girls to Parcul Herastrau and we crossed the big, bad street safe and sound.

After enjoying the playgrounds and some fresh-squeezed orange juice at the juice stand, we headed for home. It was early evening, high traffic time (although it always seems bumper to bumper). I prepared the girls to cross the street: Ava held on to the stroller, I held on to Audrey, and when the little green man appeared, I looked every which way before stepping into the street. About 1/3 of the way across, a little car speeds around the corner, and seeing us, slams on his breaks, giving off a LOUD squeal peculiar to rubber sliding over cobblestone (Now, don't worry--there was really no danger here; I had seen him and had halted the girls until I knew he had seen us). This was all very entertaining to the other pedestrians and the crowded downtown bus stopped at the light. The next thing I know, Audrey is screaming and one of the other cars stopped at the light starts honking. "Okay, I'll be out of your way in a second. Sheesh! The little man is still green!"

Finally across the street, Ava says, "Mom, Audrey's shoe!" and I realize what Audrey was screaming about: "My shoe, my shoe!"

There, lying small and insiginicant in the middle of the boulevard, was one half of Audrey's FAVORITE pair of red shoes.

"Mom, it's going to get run over! Wahhhhh!"

"Ava, quiet, please! It'll be fine; we'll just go back across and get it when the light changes again."

As I stoop down to get my camera from the stroller basket, a man jumps out of his car, rushes into the cross-walk and grabs the shoe. I raise both hands and motion for him to throw it. The light changes, I catch the shoe, he jumps back into his car, and the traffic rolls (as does my laughter!) Our hero!

Although I was grateful to this man for risking his life to preserve Audrey's shoe, I couldn't help feeling a little perturbed that I didn't get a shot of the shoe in the middle of the road, traffic rushing across it.