Alexander

Lost

One event that took place in my life has changed the younger me, I was around 7 or 8 years old and my family was shopping at target. It was the local target in Riverdale, NJ. It was a store that sold items from clothes to foods, it was very relevant and useful. It was based on a theme of red, the building, as well as employees, were red. I have been there previously and enjoyed going out even though it could be boring sometimes. It just happens that this day I was very childless and lacked awareness.

When my parents and little sister were shopping for clothes, I would usually stroll around near the clothing section that they were in. My parents knew I would walk around but didn’t bother to put a stop to it because I would come back every time they were about to leave. But on this trip to Target, it was different and life-changing.

It had all started because of a crowded aisle. My mother tried to go into the aisle but it was too cramped for a cart to fit through. She told me to stay near the cart, where my sister and the groceries were. Since I still had a childish mind, I would often get bored while shopping for clothes and had to do something to keep me busy, I started to wander and walk around out of boredom and find something interesting to do. While walking around, I got bored quickly and went back to the aisle where I last left. What I didn’t realize when I was gone, was that they have left, without me. 

After letting the thought sink in I was speechless. It has felt like the world paused, I looked around, but there were just no signs of them. Stunned, and not knowing what to do, I just started to panic. I could feel my heart pumping and the aisles around me started spinning. I now had a headache, thinking of where they are. I took a hard look around, looking to see if my mom was searching for me. I thought it would be better for me to just look for them than to sit still. As I was still in a panic, and my legs started to shake, and I scanned through each and one of the cash registers to see if my family could be checking out. 

After taking a deep breath, I could feel my body trying to hold back tears and the urge to give up was rising. I constantly stopped to think of where they could be, it got worse every time, I started to hear the voices in my head getting louder. It felt like forever when I was looking for them and my heart was starting to race and was undeniably loud. Not only was my body pounding but the people around me seem to be much bigger and louder. With all the sounds and being frustrated, I started to tear. I tried holding the feeling back and stay calm, which seemed almost impossible. I could feel my body getting warmer and my heart rate increase, the thought of not seeing my family again was terrifying. 

“Please help me,” I begged a random lady entering one of the cash register lines. 

“Can you please help me,” I repeated almost in a yelling motion. Everyone around stared at me like I was crazy, and when someone finally questioned what was wrong, I couldn’t speak. I was sobbing and crying. Everything was starting to become a blur and breathing wasn’t getting easier. I just stood in the middle of the main aisle and moment later I saw a figure of my mom appear far down the main aisle. I wiped the tears off my eyes and looked again. It was my mother with the shopping cart. She was staring back at me. My body ached with everything that just happened but I bared the pain and started to run toward her. I was filled with joy and happiness that I finally saw her. I felt like a pet reuniting with its owner after a long time. I balled my eyes out as I got to her, she kneeled down, opening her arms to me. I ran right into them and tried calming down. 

“I- I got lost, I was looking for you guys everywhere,” I managed to get out while still sobbing.

“It’s okay,” she kept patting my back, “you are back with us now.” She reassured me that everything was well.

We walked it off and continued shopping, I didn’t leave sight of my mother and stayed, locking my arms on to the cart the whole time. Even though I was still crying and still in shock, I told myself everything was back to normal, which it was.

It was words that a child couldn’t explain but the joy that I had when I finally found them was adrenaline rushing. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life, it has taught me that without family you can become very lost, and moments like these can really impact a person and their personality. The feeling of the younger me almost losing them in my head, was breathtaking and unbelievable. Not only has this lesson taught me that family comes first, but also to be aware of things around myself. More examples can be serious other than being lost in a local target, such as kidnappings or being lost in a city you are not familiar with. After all, this event has made me more aware and caring than before, when I was ignorant and unaware.