What I heard, what I saw.

[elfs]

I'm reluctant to write this because I don't know what happened, but here's what I saw and heard: yesterday, while Omaha and I were getting ready to drive to a restaurant, the woman of the house next door (you know the one) came riding up in her white riced Nissan, driving much faster than the 15 MPH limit our private road demands. We were busy getting Kouryou-chan to put her shoes on but the sound of a child screaming got our attention. Suddenly, we hear the woman next door screaming at the babysitter, who can't be much older than fifteen years old himself: "How you could leave them outside like this? They're not supposed to be outside like this! Get me a fucking towel! Get me a fucking towel now!" The child is still screaming. The babysitter is standing at the front door, arms out at his sides, palms up. We can't hear what he's saying, but she says, "Just shut up and get me a fucking towel!" We step outside in time to see the woman next to her car bundle the child into a big towel and hustle into the house.

A minute or two later, we pull out onto the road and drive by the neighbor's house. Her car is there, awkwardly angled in the driveway. The driver's side door is open.

Beside the driver's side rear panel, a lone child's shoe lay on the asphalt.