A-Lot-A-Bit Lost

Chandra flew through the door as if she were just coming in from playing outside, like it was a normal day, like she hadn't been missing for nearly 24 hours. Her mother was on hold with the police when she heard the storm that was her daughter, enter and loudly plunk herself down at the dining room table. Her mother let out a breath that she had been holding for way too long now and sighed. She didn't want to spook Chandra, she didn't know what kind of state she was in, so she just sat down silently across from her with a smile on her face. There was an even bigger smile in her heart, one that came with sparkles and hugs and a, oh my goodness, I'm so glad you're home!

“She told me I’d better get home before it got dark, Mama," Chandra said this as if nothing had changed in their lives. "She said the Boogie Man would get me and gobble me up starting from my toes!” Chandra wiggled and stretched her toes wide under the table, thankful they were no longer at risk of being gobbled.

“Well now Shawny, why’d you even ever leave me in the first place? You know that you can’t go out there all alone. When have you ever once gone and been out there all by yourself!” Her mother was not really asking her daughter these questions, she knew why she had left and she wasn’t going to let it happen again. A person with a mental deficiency such as Chandra’s could lead her into the kind of trouble that she just didn't have the stomach for. The thought of someone taking advantage of her sweet girl made her head spin. She had been in a complete mental melt down since Chandra disappeared.

“She was real nice,” Said Chandra, head down, speaking at the table. “I was just crying and crying cuz I couldn’t get home, mama. No matter which way I turned, not one street looked like ours. But this lady,” she giggled “She had blue hair mama, she sat down beside to me,” Chandra paused, trying to remember what the lady had looked like, but she couldn’t picture her anymore. “She asked if I was OK, so I told her bout you and bout the cats. She gave me her lunch, cuz I was just starvin, and she looked through my bag cuz she was certain I needed to get home to you and Mr. and Mrs. Fluffy Butt. And she found something mama, she said she found the golden ticket.” Chandra’s eyes went wide and her hand swept up and along as if she were stroking the sky line.

“Well, go on now, tell me, what was this magical golden ticket honey?” She asked, even though she was pretty certain she already knew what it was.

Chandra took from her pocket a plastic identification card grinning in a laughable way, saying “I think she’s just a smarty pants too mama, cuz she told me a bunch of silly stuff, she was so funny! I couldn't stop from laughing at her, mama. Then she told me I’d have to be brave and trust her cuz you know what, mama? Guess how I got back home!” Her eyes sparkled. “In a car mama, with” She paused dramatically, “a stranger danger!” She said this in her best spooky ghost voice. A smiled exploded on her face, and they laughed. “But he was a nice man, mama, not a bad man, no no. He smelt like spices and grandpa's house. He asked me how I was, so I told him about you, mama, and bout the cats”.