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This is a Re-Post That I'd Like to Share once Again (From 8 Months Ago)

https://steemit.com/child/@averageoutsider/the-day-a-small-child-touched-my-hand-heart-perhaps-an-angel

Have you ever had an unexpected, brief, fleeting moment in your life that seemed rather mysterious, Divine in nature, or just plain strange, and never forgot? Here is a true short story of one that I had many years ago. I hope you enjoy it.

About thirty years ago, on a rather beautiful, Spring-like day I had parked my car a short distance from where I was going to visit a family member.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/07/15/11/53/hand-846092__340.jpg

They lived in an apartment above an eatery on a very busy commercial street. Cars, trucks and buses moved along loudly, spewing out fuming trails of impatiently laden honking horns, and scouring faces.

People moved through the crowd of shoppers, workers, tourists, gawkers and souls of every description. The air was thick, the pace, hectic and impersonal as I sought to navigate the frowning onslaught of the masses.

Somehow, that day for me, was an unexplainable day of peace and tranquility which for most of us seems to be elusive.Our average day is usually filled with thoughts of stressful chores we feel the need to complete; anger at the yesterdays that didn’t turn out well, and anger towards those people who absolutely ruined moments from our past.

Choosing to walk along the outer side of the pavement served me well. Fewer people venture that close to the curb for some reason. Maybe it goes back to the old ‘horse and buggy’ days of yore; a time when mud was often kicked up from the road by trotting hoofs.

Not far from my destination, I suddenly felt the brush of a soft hand against mine, looking down, there was a young girl staring up at me in passing. She was being led by an elderly woman, who gruffly yanked at her as she slowed to gaze back at me.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2013/02/08/21/16/fog-79456__340.jpg

There was a look of tenderness in her eyes, yet a sort of sad, blank expression on her face; her hair was dark, long and curly. She was a beautiful child, in tattered clothing.

Pausing at the appointed door, I followed her with my eyes…she turned her head towards me once again; there was a look of helplessness in her eyes, and my heart just sunk at my inability to do anything except offer her a smile.

I watched her being led away through the crowded street, until they both vanished from sight. Looking at my hand, I stroked the place where the little girl had touched it; in that moment, her face became burned into my memory.

All these years later, I have never forgotten that touch, that small child and I’ve never forgotten that day. It’s as though I’d been touched by an Angel, and perhaps…I was?

@AverageOutsider