Found on the Street

Annie’s mom went straight to the bathroom and locked the door after they returned from the park. She had told Annie to play quietly in her room until she was finished, but Annie could not stop thinking about that poster she saw on the telephone pole on the walk home. On it was a picture of a stuffed bunny, and a whole bunch of words she couldn’t read, except one, “LOST”.  That poor bunny, Annie thought, someone has to find it. She knew she could do it, she was always finding treasures that were dropped in the street, like marbles, and match box cars, and once even a dollar bill! She figured that was where she would find the bunny too.

Annie tip toed to the bathroom and pressed her ear to the door. From the sound of things Mom would probably be in there awhile, now was the perfect time to go out and look for that bunny. Quietly she walked down stairs, grabbed the small step stool from the kitchen she used to reach the counter when she helped Mom cook, and took it to the front door. Standing on the stool she was able to stretch just high enough to unlock the door, and out in the neighborhood she ventured to rescue that poor lost bunny. She did not make it far before a nice man in a big white van, which looked a lot like the ice cream truck, pulled up next to her and offered to help her look.

Suze had been at the park with Annie when she got the phone call she had been dreading, the divorce was final. She could not deal with this in the middle of the park so she took Annie by the hand and hurried her home. Suze was on the verge of tears when she crossed the threshold, she didn’t want Annie to see her like this, so she told her to go play quietly in her room. Then she rushed into the bathroom and locked the door so she could cry in peace. A bit later, after splashing water on her face to try and remove some of the puffy redness, she emerged. The first thing she noticed was how quite it was in the house. She poked her head in Annie’s room, but it was empty. What could she be doing, Suze wondered, as she walked down stairs and into the living room. That’s when she spotted the stool, sitting by the front door that had been left ajar. Suze ran to the door and flung it open all the way, screaming Annie’s name, but the street was empty.

Suze approached the telephone pole with a stack of posters in her hands. She glanced down at her daughter’s smiling face, and then quickly looked away, tears welling up in her eyes. She held a poster to the pole, covering up some disintegrating flyer with a stuffed bunny on it, and stapled it firmly in place.