Magical moment 151, "Sweet Secret Moment"

Some of the best moments are the ones accidentally seen. I was the only person in the world to witness this one.

A mother was trying desperately to entertain her young toddler and distract him from the heat as they waited outside for the fireworks show to begin. She sang to him, played games, and did everything in her power to get him to interact with her, and distract him from the excruciating boredom and fatigue. The little boy was only about a year old, with wide, brown eyes, and black eyelashes that reached up to his thick eyebrows. He didn’t speak. He only stared at his mother with a questioning look on his small, round face.

“Donde esta Ricardo?” His mother asked in a high pitched, playful voice. “Where is he? Donde esta Ricardo?” Still, the boy showed no sign of interest in the game. She persisted however, coaxing him to play along. “Donde esta Ricardo?” Eventually, the mother gave up on the one-sided game and with a shrug of her shoulders, she turned around to tend to her older children who were arguing over potato chips.

As soon as her back was turned, I saw little Ricardo tentatively reach up with his small hands and put them over his eyes. He mischievously smiled, peeked through a little crack in his fingers, and then jerked them back down to his side as if to say, “Peek-a-boo! Here I am!” But his mother did not see. He was too late. He tried once more, but now his mother was preoccupied. He didn’t seem to mind though. As he turned away from his mother, I caught his gaze and smiled at him. He smiled back, then bashfully looked away. What a sweet, secret moment.

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