A 4-year-old Pennsylvania girl wanted a slushie so badly that she boarded a public bus alone, to the surprise of the driver and passengers -- since it was around 3 a.m. in the morning.
The tiny child, dressed in a purple coat and purple snow boots, quietly took a seat by herself then told the few fellow passengers on the early bus run she wanted to get a slushie, as she sat happily in the seat dangling her feet.
Driver Harlan Jenifer, on noticing the unaccompanied child, pulled the Northeast Philadelphia bus to the curb and radioed his control center, which contacted police.
He was surprised to see the youngster all by herself, he said.
"Got to be kidding me! At this time, at 3 o'clock in the morning," he said. "She's such a small little thing. It kind of just shocked me."
"She knew exactly where she was going," he said. "So she must've traveled that route before. She had to."
Police took the girl, named Annabelle Ridgeway and none the worse for her early slushie-seeking sojourn, to a local hospital where she was reunited with her parents.
The parents said they hadn't realized the 4-year-old had gotten up, dressed herself and slipped out the back door of the family home hoping to obtain her favorite sugary beverage at a nearby all-night convenience store.
Reunited with the mom and dad, Annabelle was adamant - she still wanted her slushie, she told her mom as a local television station interviewed the family.
"I will take you to buy a slushie," mother Jaclyn Mager told her daughter. "But... promise me next time you'll wait for me, OK?"
Annabelle's father Tom Ridgeway had praise for bus driver Jenifer and the way he handled the unusual situation that could have ended differently.
"My mind is wanting to go places, it's hard not to," he said. "Thank God for the bus driver. There are no words, he saved my daughter's life."
