I couldn’t recover for a while. My thoughts were racing: what if I hadn’t noticed it? What if the kids had poured themselves some milk and accidentally swallowed the needle? Just the thought made me feel sick.

I took the object out, rinsed it, and stared at it for a long time in disbelief. It couldn’t have been an accident — the packaging was sealed, the cap intact.

How it ended up there — that’s a mystery. A manufacturing error? Someone’s malicious act? I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure: after this incident, I’ll be ten times more careful, even with the most ordinary things.

Because sometimes danger hides exactly where you least expect it.