It takes a village… 

By Valerie Cury

As I was pulling out of a parking lot at Hatcher and Hirst Road in Purcellville, preparing to turn left, I saw a very young boy running down the sidewalk in front of my car. He got to the middle of the sidewalk and stopped, but seemed like he was getting ready to dash across the street towards the Purcellville Police Station. You could see on his face how badly he wanted to do so but had been warned not to.

I quickly put my car in park. As I scanned the area, I wondered where his parents were as I couldn’t see any adults in the area. I got out of the car and started walking towards him. At that moment, a Loudoun County school bus stopped in the middle of the road. The bus driver leaned out her door, said something to the young child, then asked me if he belonged to me. I said no and kept walking closer to the boy. I didn’t want to alarm him as you could see on his face that he was thinking about running across the street. But he knew better, but he so wanted to.

As I got closer, he bolted back to the business center and jumped off a low wall, taking his time to roll in a thin strip of grass. 

An American Disposal Services truck was parked beside the Burgers, Fries & Chicken restaurant as the driver took a 3 p.m. snack break. Just then, the young child ran around the corner near the entrance of BFC, and I was thinking his parents might be in there.

But he dashed across the parking lot towards the medical building. By that time, the driver of the trash truck and more than a handful of other people were following the lad. The group included the Bank of Clarke County team, who had initially seen him run across the back of the building. 

Unbeknownst to us, all this occurred while his parent was frantically searching the medical building for him. Within minutes, the youngster was reunited safely with his parent.

All this goes to show that we live in a wonderful and caring community. A big shoutout to the school bus driver, the American Disposal Services driver, the Bank of Clarke County team, and all the other concerned citizens who joined in to protect this little fellow.

We would ask his parents to please update us on his cross-country career when he reaches high school.