When Hope Lillian Trott woke up in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the toddler didn't cry or wake her family. True to her name, the 3-year-old Maine resident got out of bed and trotted off down the street.
Thinking her mother was at the grocery store buying pizza, Hope zipped a jacket over her nightgown, slipped on the red shoes from her prized Minnie Mouse outfit, and walked out the front door of her family's house. According to the Bangor Daily News, the little girl trudged through the night, leaving tiny footprints in the snow as she walked a mile to the store.
When an employee arrived to clean the floors at 4 a.m., he found the girl crying out front and promptly alerted police, the Associated Press reported. Officers traced Trott's tiny tracks to return to her home, fearing there had been a home invasion when they found the front door ajar.
Instead, the Baileyville police found Hope's parents and siblings sound asleep, and uncertain whether to be more frightened by the officers in their home or their toddler back from her midnight trek.
Fortunately, all's well that ends well with little Hope, who was examined at the local hospital and received a clean bill of health from her walk in the 29-degree night. According to the police chief, however, Trott was quite upset to learn that her mother had not been to the store, the Bangor Daily News reported. When mother and daughter visited the grocery later on Wednesday, the owner greeted his most loyal little customer with a box of Valentine's chocolates.