Shaun the Sheep and the little boy who told

Sometimes, it's the small things – the otherwise routine moments seen in the right light – that inspire.

It started as a typical evening. I'd just settled in, intent on calling a few families. As is often the case, however, something else arose. There was a Crown Prosecutor coming in to meet with a family for court preparation and needed a witness to join. Of course, I was happy to help.

One apparent goal of the meeting was to simply build rapport with the child, an adorable seven-year-old boy, and the prosecutor did a fantastic job. Asked about his favorite movie at one point, the kid offered “Shaun the Sheep.” I had to chime in – “I love that show,” I told him, “but haven't seen the movie.”

That launched story-time. Our young Zebra Centre client had to tell me all about it – in incredible detail. He was glowing with excitement to share this with me, and even responded to an attempted interruption by the Crown Prosecutor with, “You really have to let me finish this story.”

We all laughed – the Crown, the boy's mother and myself – while he continued, undeterred, for at least ten more minutes.

Now, I don't know why this boy was going to court – sometimes it's best not to know – but afterward, I learned from a colleague that it was... well, bad.

I could see, however, that at Zebra Centre, he felt happy and safe. Clearly, the wonderful people here are doing a great job. It was inspiring to see and I was honored to be small part of it.

- Submitted by Rick Michaels - child advocate volunteer