Aisle 15

The four of us went to dinner and stopped at a store afterwards to find some things to make a fox costume. It went fairly quickly at the store, so we were milling around different departments separately, and then would bump back into each other again, only to wander off separately again. We do this often, with the stipulation that the girls always stay together and don't engage with strangers, even the cute teen boy variety!

Usually we text back and forth to let each other know where we are or if we're ready to leave. I love this luxury of having teens and being able to shop uninterrupted again, however, I still like knowing where they are at all times.

The girls were looking at Christmas things with me one minute, then gone the next. Steve had gone off to hardware or hunting, so I stuck around for a bit until Steve came back. I assumed the girls had gone to look at makeup as they often do, but they weren't in the makeup aisle. Or the music aisle...or the clothes...or the books...or the crafts....or the grocery. They didn't seem to be anywhere!

Steve and I didn't panic at first. They are known to get distracted looking at something, or playing a video game display, losing track of time quickly. But as time went on, and the store grew emptier and quieter, I started to secretly panic. The first text message went out to Natalie, the only one with a working phone right now. "Where R U?" No reply. I called. Went directly to message. Ok, I don't like that one bit, so I'm starting to get that wild-eyed mom look about me, and Steve, Mr. Calm, could tell. After 10 more minutes of thinly veiled panicked searching, I urged him to have the girls paged.

My mind was going there. Kidnapped. Assaulted. Abducted. Sold into a human trafficking ring. Drugged. Hurt. Gone!! So as we waited for the extremely slooooowww lady in line at the customer service desk, I am as anxious as can be. If I would have gone up there, I would have interrupted for sure! Steve is so calm. I am a basket case. Inside, of course. I wouldn't want to overreact. Snicker...

So, the girls were paged and we waited at aisle 15 for their hopeful arrival. This was the longest they had ever gone missing in a store, and as my mind went there, it began to feel even more wrong. I had all kinds of scenarios in my head. I was trying to remember what they were wearing. I was thinking, "why do my girls have to be so beautiful? It's just not safe out there!"

As I stood there, eagle-eyed in all directions, they appeared, smiling and giggling to each other. As I placed my hand over my wrecked heart and sighed, they giggled even more. "Mom, you had us paged! It was so embarrassing!" I went on to tell them how freaked out we were getting, and Natalie said, "oh, we're sorry. My phone was dead, so I left it home". Ugh!

"Were you worried someone was going to "get us"? Serena asked. Because they wouldn't mess with this," and she flexed her puny arms. One thing she is right about is that they would fight to the death for each other and they would scream like crazy. Serena may look thin,  but she is an animal when you try to fight her. I've tried....:)

So, what were those silly girls doing all that time? They were in the toy aisle, playing with dinosaurs, spiderman, swords, and trying on bike helmets!! And taking pictures and video of it all. I have to admit, I did laugh pretty hard watching their dinosaur fight go down.

I can't believe it, but neither Steve nor I thought to look in the toy aisle!! Steve said he did go down there, but they must have been on the end or something.

Their punishment? Now they have to "hold mommy's hand" whenever we get to the store. Yeah, that will work!!