crossing alvernon,at night

I had spent the weekend at my sisters house, in midtown Tucson. She was working at
as a waitress . The amazing part; her tips could easily break $300 a weekend. Not bad.
For me, I sat at her home, and watched the kids; for a pack of smokes, and good home cooking.
My sister liked to cook. From scratch. I had no complaints.
It was my usual arrangement: ride my bicycle from the apartment on Harrison over
to her place. Typically on friday night. Right down Speedway to Craycroft, then left onto
Pima at the hospital. The bike lanes - Tucson had great bike lanes.
After the primetime tv was over, I gave my oldest neice a kiss. And I rode out on my
bike into the sunday evening. Wearing my ever-present headphones, and using my
generator headlight, I trekked through the residential streets between Glenn and Fort Lowell.
Less traffic. I avoided the major intersections at night, riding down Monte Vista over to
Swan Road, then 1 block up to Fort Lowell to get across Craycroft at the light.
While riding through the neighborhoods, there are few streetlights. For those not acustomed
to Tucson, they have a policy of cutting down the glare for the telescopes in the area.
Less city glow, or light pollution.
As you get to Alvernon, on Monte Vista, you are suddenly faced with streetlighting that
is typical for any US city. Those pinkish, sodium lamps, perched atop 25 foot poles.
I would wait for traffic to clear. If it took 5 whole minutes, who cares ?
The intersection is square, and very flat in terrain. You can see for miles, it seems.
It takes about 20 seconds to get across . So, you look for 'no headlights' in the northbound
lanes within..say 200 hundred yards.
The traffic is clear, and I am pushing off with my foot to cross Alvernon .
SOMETHING I didn't see is moving parallel to me . Coming at me, and it is dark and solid.
Alarms go off in your head.
It's the size of a medium dog. But there are no 'legs' . It's rolling along, crossing the
avenue. There are apartment buildings on that corner, and I am thinking - kids.
Caution. There is no traffic , so i'm not worried about the 'swerved to miss it' cars
endangering my life. But WTF is it ?
My god. It's a small child, sitting on a skateboard. Crossing Alvernon, in the dark.
As i get closer, it gets weirder. To me, anyway.
The 'kid' has no legs. Nothing below the knees.
I waved, he waved back. He is latino, and horrible visions of
landmines exploding are creeping into my mind. some of those civil wars in
central america were not so 'civilized' . I will never know.
Maybe he lost his legs crossing streets after dark.
I rode off into the darkness, my generator headlight shining the way, home.