The little boy in the woods

The seconds few by, Carla couldn't think of an answer. Yes Ms. Hosseini, the teacher repeated, you were going to explain to me why you were late for the class today.

Mrs...Mrs Steele, Carla stammered, there was a strange boy covered in mud on the way and he waved at my car. I stopped by to check if he needed any help he told me he was lost, and he wanted to go to his mommy. I asked him where he was from but he seemed to have no memory or record of where he livde or who his parents were. He kept on mentioning mama and papa, and how they would miss him if he left the house, how he needed to get back to them. So I offered him a ride.

And were you able to take him to his place, or at least hand him over to the authorities?

Well...not exactly, you see despite not knowing where he was from or who his parents were he seemed to have an exceedingly detailed knowledge of where he needed to go. He made me drive into this small gravel road I'd never seem before, by the bush. And we got on the foot and walked for what must have been a few miles at least. By the end of it I was tired thirsty and very sweaty. He had given up walking a long time ago, the boy, and I had to carry him most of the way.

Surely then you wouldn't have been late for the class by only a couple of minutes, unless you claim to have left your house several hours in advance of the school opening for the morning?

Well... there's more to the story. We got to this bush, lots of overgrown hedges. I asked him to confirm if that was really where he lived, and he nodded, far ahead I could see a small house, looked like it was from the 1950's, painted in bright white. He pointed to the house and said that's where mommy and papa lived, so I carried him all the way to the house. The neighborhood didn't look so good so I rang the bell a few times, and then knocked the door. There was no response, so I shouted a few times, knocked on the glass, and created a general ruckus.

Okay, I'm losing the thread on how this has anything to do with you being late for the class but do continue...

Well....nobody answered the door so I got disheartened and worried that I'd miss school. I was just about to call 9-1-1, and have the cops pick the little boy up when a lady who must have been in her mid forties, maybe early fifties, showed up from behind the house. At first I assumed her to be the boy's grandmother, but it became obvious she was the mother. The boy jumped to hug her, clearly he was close to her.

Go on, my skepticism grows by the minutes, but I'm not yet fully convinced.