Philadelphia transportation officials announced on Sunday that a 4-year-old girl named Annabelle boarded a bus alone in the early hours of Friday morning. Her mission? To satisfy a late-night snack craving: “All I want is a slushie,” she said, according to bus driver Harlan Jenifer.

Jenifer’s attention was brought to his diminutive passenger by other confused and concerned riders. Jenifer immediately pulled over, called his control center, and waited for the authorities to come. Police arrived and brought the youngster to a nearby hospital, where she was reunited with her family in less than an hour.

“I was like whoa, you’ve got to be kidding me! Not this time of night. 3:00 in the morning, a little girl? She’s a small little thing. Kind of just shocked me,” said Jenifer in an interview.

Annabelle’s parents expressed deep gratitude to Jenifer’s quick reaction to the situation. “Thank God for the bus driver stopping,” said father Timothy Ridgeway. “And the people on the bus,” added mother Jaclyn Mager. The shocked parents said they have reconfigured the locks in their home. They had not realized their daughter knew how to unlock the back door of their house.

The parents repeatedly thanked all those who helped bring their daughter back to safety. “My mind’s wanting to go places… What if, what if, what if?” said Ridgeway. “He [Jenifer] saved my daughter’s life,” said Mager. “I’ll be forever grateful.”

In a television interview, Mager told her daughter, “I will take you to buy a slushie, but listen, promise me next time you’ll wait for me, ok?”