Today the rain fell. It fell in buckets, in sheets, in barrels... It fell as rain can fall in the tropics.
No matter, we had been hoping for an opportunity to hit the craft store for more balsa wood and a few other essentials for the aviation project. Hitty Tess and The Big Guy wanted to inspect the lumber and get some special adhesives to help with the wing installation phase.
Apparently everyone else in the state had the very same idea because the parking at the mall resembled something seen only in the most lurid of Christmas visions. Parking was at a premium and by the time the five-point harness in the back seat booster chair was unbuckled, the unbuckler was soaked to the skin. then came the dash to the mall door and the wait for DH to find the parking place and to sprint, streaming rain, to join the expedition.
We rode the monorail from the back of beyond, where we had parked, to the middle of everything where there was standing room only. It was unbelievable! American Idol mania has seized the island and there were live competitions on stage in the middle of every walkway, there were people pushing strollers and carrying sleeping babies. There were wheelchairs and strollers and carts!
We threaded our way to the craft store and did our shopping. Then it was downstairs to feed the kids a little something to sustain them through traffic until we reached home waaaay past dinner time. As we were snacking, DH got a look and said, "I forgot to take pictures of Tess picking out the balsa!" We offered to do the potty stop and meet him outside the craft store when we were all finished.
We did meet him outside the craft store and all proceeded apace until DH reached into his pocket to get fare for the monorail back to the back of beyond. He got this look - I can't describe it. He began rooting furiously in his pocket and saying, "Where's Tess?!"
We did a shoulder to shoulder sweep all the way back to the craft store. We searched the craft store from top to bottom. We put in inquiries with all the lost and found agencies in the entire complex.
At this point JJ began wailing, "Hitty Tess! HITTY TESS!" She cried and screamed for Hitty Tess until we were halfway home (That would be in excess of 40 minutes). Then she began describing fantasies of Hitty Tess running alongside the car yelling, "Let me in! Let me in!"
It was heartbreaking.
I don't know if Hitty Tess was seduced by the recruitment office or she caught a shuttle to the airport to work on the Big Planes, but I do know that she was nowhere to be found.
Well, The Big Guy is soldiering on with the biplane construction, but somehow it's just not the same. He might be able to get a new assistant but we will always love Tess and we will always miss her.
tcv