Driving home from work tonight
The electronic sign above the freeway says:
AMBER ALERT
MISSING CHILD
A car’s license plate number and make and model included
Fear came over me
The fear of being ten years old and holding a piece of paper
At the top of the page, in big, bold letters:
MISSING
A girl’s picture and information included
Taken from a friend’s slumber party in the middle of the night
She was my age, and lived not too far away
My imagination conjuring up images of horror
The struggle, the muffled cries for help
The streams of tears
She was all over the news
All the neighborhood kids were terrified
A few months later she was found in a trash bin
Another life wasted
Destruction of innocence
Another sign displays the same grim message
In electronic yellow print
Dead or alive, one thing is certain
Tonight another child learned all too soon
How awful the human race really is