Cute story, but the boy could have easily been killed by the fawn's mother.
When my middle child was 3.5 years old, I sat her down one day to watch a movie, while I worked with a manager that worked for me that came to my house. We finished a couple hours later, and I went over to check on her and she was gone. Searched the house, all over outside, checked with neighbors, no where to be found.
When I came upstairs, the front door was open one inch. It was late March and about 49 degrees outside. I called my wife at the grocery store to see if she came back and took her, the phone went click. It was late afternoon, and just starting to get dark out. She was gone for about one hour that I noticed.
Now I should mention my doors were very tight in the jam, and I often would use two hands to open a door. I thought she would never be able to open a door to get out. Well, I called the police to report her missing, and the policeman said, she have blond hair about 3-4 years of age. I said yes, and he said, I think I have her here.
She decided to go visit my sister, 3.5 miles away, walking and crisscrossing back and forth over a road with cars traveling 40 mph. An old couple saw her run out in front of a car, that slammed on its breaks, and they grabbed her and took her to the police station.
My coworker drove me over to the police station, I go inside, and a cop was offering her a candy bar. She declined as I walked up, and looked at me and said hey dad. I said to her, where did you think you were going? Cool as a cucumber, she says, over to Lee's[my sister, living with my parents, her grandparents].
It took me at least a week to feel normal again. The empty pain was terrible. Every night at dinner for about one month, she received a brief lecture about not going anywhere without Mom or Dad's approval. I went and had deadbolts installed on all the doors, both sides requiring a key.
Another situation where it could have been tragic but wasn't. The newspapers are full of tragedies, not of children that had happy endings. I remember that day like yesterday. If I were to give advice to a parent new to the job, I would say be careful taking your eyes off your kids, they disappear quickly. This same child would be standing next to you in a department store, and disappear within a fraction of a second. She would crawl under a rack of clothes and literally be gone, and then not respond to her name being called. She would be 3 feet away and just sit there silent. What a character she was. I appreciated why some parents used harnesses on their kids. The heart failure with that one. She probably took a year or two off my life.
