Disneyland, California was the place to visit during the summer. It was packed full of people walking around and seeing the sights. Today was a great day to come to Disneyland, it was sunny and the first week of summer. Summer was one of Disneyland's busiest time of year so everybody was working their butts off.
I was sitting in the shade on my lunch break still in costume. Watching the people walk by was one of my favorite pass times, I would sit in the same spot every day. In the middle of the walk way was a garden full of trees and flowers, It was in the shape of a horseshoe and I was in the corner of the garden where the shade was the thickest. The garden separated the walk ways. One went towards the food court and the other went to the rides. I was leaning against a tree with my feet dangling over the side of the brick wall that surrounded the garden.
A girls yelling broke my focus off the people walking by, a guy not much older than myself was grabbing a little girl who was yelling at him. It looked to me like they were a brother and sister having a fight, which happened often here. I continued to watch them. The girl kept screaming and people didn't seem to notice. I was beginning to think something was wrong. The girl bit the boy and he pulled away for a second, then without warning he slapped her across the cheek.
I jumped up and ran over to them.
"Hey what do you think you're doing?" I yelled.
"None of your business" The guy replied rudely.
The little girl had fallen to the ground from the impact of the slap. I helped her stand up and she ran behind me and hugged my leg.
"I think you should leave. She's obviously scared of you." I said telling him off.
"She's my sister and she's coming with me" He was getting angry now. He started towards us. I backed up pushing the girl with me.
"Do you know this guy?" I asked the girl. She shook her head no. "You need to leave now. Before I call security" I warned.
That seemed to get his attention. He left in a hurry and disappeared around the statue of Mickey Mouse.
I lifted the girl up and brought her over to the wall where I had been sitting.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked quietly, I didn't want to scare her more.
She shook her head no as she cried. I grabbed my water bottle and pressed the side of it to the girl's cheek. At first she flinched away from the cold but then she grabbed the bottle and pushed it against her cheek.
"Can you tell me what happened?" I asked.
She nodded her head, tears streaming down her face. "I got lost and needed help, but when I asked him for help he pulled me into the corner and then I didn't want to talk to him anymore. But he wouldn't let go so I screamed." It was hard to understand her because she was gasping for breath in between each word, probably because of that feeling in the back of your throat when you cry that makes it hard to breathe. I rubbed her arms trying to sooth her.
"Okay now what's your name?"
"It's Emma and I'm six" She sniffled and held up six fingers, which made me smile. She was beginning to calm down finally.
"Emma, do you have any way to contact you parents? A phone number maybe?" Her family was probably worried sick.
She nodded enthusiastically and jumped off the wall and pulled her backpack off her shoulders. She unzipped the smallest pocket and pulled something out. In her hand was a pink lanyard with the Disney princesses on it. On the metal ring attached to the lanyard was a Minnie Mouse keychain and two plastic cards. I grabbed it from her and looked at the cards. One looked like it was to an apartment building and the other one had the little girls information on it. It read, Emma Cooper, North Lemon Street, Anaheim. At the bottom it had a phone number.
