He let his eyes blink open, slowly, and immediately raised a hand to shield them from bright light.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw the concerned expressions on the faces of two persons, a man and a woman, looking down at him. They looked old, perhaps early thirties, and wore jogging attire.
"You OK, hon?" The woman asked.
He touched his face. "My head hurts," he said softly.
"I wouldn't wonder," the woman's companion said. "You ran right into that lamp post."
He looked around him, seeing the offending lamp post, as well as a winding, gravel-strewn path through a park setting. He shivered and looked down, for the first time noticing his lack of a stitch of clothing.
"You must be freezing," the woman said.
"Give him this," the man said, peeling off his T-shirt and handing it to her. "It'll cover him up."
The woman knelt next to him and helped him lift his arms and slide the t-shirt over his body. The borrowed short reached nearly to his knees.
"What's your name, hon?" The woman asked.
The boy looked at her, then pivoted his attention toward the man. His hands fingered a silver chain around his neck. His face screwed itself into a tight look of concentration before he admitted with a shaky voice that he couldn't remember his name.
"Were you running away from someone?" The man asked and stared at the collar. "Did someone take you?"
The woman gasped and followed her companion's train of thought. "Were you abducted, sweetie?"
The questions came too fast. The adults were faced with a limited set of facts. They had just seen a naked kid about 10 years of age run headlong into a lamp post and knock himself out. There hadn't been any sign of pursuers, but the chain around his neck definitely made it seem like he had been held captive. Sad cases made headlines all the time, but sometimes a snatched kid would break free from his abductor.
"Call the police," the woman said, but her companion had already had his phone in hand in anticipation of the next step.
"No," the boy cried. He just needed time to think. "I didn't do anything bad."
"Oh, we know that, hon," the woman said. "You're safe now, and we'll help you get back to your family."
The woman appeared genuinely interested in his well-being. But he kept going back round to her question about his name. He felt panicky and his eyes got damp. "I can't remember my name!" The boy said excitedly as he listened to the man begin a conversation with the police on his phone. "Why can't I remember my name?"
"There, there," the woman patted his back. "Everything will be OK."