A 4-year-old Philadelphia girl with a love of frozen treats was safely returned to her parents on Friday after she went on a solo 3 a.m. bus ride in search of a slushy.
While her parents were asleep, little Annabelle, of Northern Philadelphia, put on her purple coat and snow boots, left her home and waited outside until a man spotted her and flagged down a bus, WPVI-TV reported.
The unnamed pedestrian told the driver he found the child alone. That's when Annabelle boarded the bus by herself at 3 a.m., according to surveillance footage from inside the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority bus.
"Got to be kidding me," Harlan Jenifer, the driver, told WPVI-TV of the girl's solo journey. "She's a small thing. It kind of just shocked me."
But Annabelle didn't seem to understand what the fuss was about.
"All I want is a slushie," Annabelle said, according to Jenifer.
Stunned passengers looked after the girl until police arrived. Her parents said they had no idea she woke up and left through the back door, which she unlocked, police told Fox 8 Cleveland.
"My mind is wanting to go places, it's hard not to," Timothy Ridgeway, Annabelle's father, told WPVI-TV. "Thank God for the bus driver."
Police are not planning on filing charges against the girl's parents.
