Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

A week ago, we were having a typical crazy Thomas day. It was Ash Wednesday and our afternoon went something like this...

4:45-leave my office

4:47-get to my car and realize I left my keys on my desk

4:52-back at car, with keys

5:01-picking up EK from school

5:08-run inside house, change clothes.

5:12-mom picks us up to head to church

5:19-park at church for 5:15 service

5:21-sneak into back of church with mom and EK (no nursery for service--but I knew that going in)

5:25-Mike arrives at church-sitS behind us

5:32-I pass EK over the pew so that she stops saying "Daddy, Daddy, I won Daddy" while the choir is singing

5:45-imposition of ashes on forehead--which I take EK up for. Our preacher puts ashes on EK's head and says "Jesus loves you very much." Ek says "Yuv u." TOO CUTE.

5:59-church is over and Mike heads to basketball practice. We head back home with ma-ma.

I told Emma Kate that if she would be good during "big church" I would get her a prize. Once church was over, she remembered my promise. So, she and I went to McDonald's for a Mommy & Me date.

We had cheeseburger happy meals and EK got a Hello Kitty watch as her "prize" in the happy meal. She even got cookies as a treat. Then, she spotted the playground.

We were having such a nice time, just the two of us, so we headed outside where we were the only playgrounders of the evening.

Emma Kate immediately ran for the narrow, spiral stairs that lead to the labyrinth of colored tubes and boxes, high above the ground. She would call for me and tell me the color of the tube she was in, etc.

After 15 minutes, it was getting darker and darker and the light of the golden arches was not shining bright enough for EK to see in her world of tubes. So, I told her to just come down the slide and we would go home and see daddy.

K: Not slide, mommy.

ME: Emma Kate, just come down the slide. I am right here at the bottom.

EK: 'S toooo dark in derrre. Come Mommy.

Me: Emma Kate, mommy is right here, just come back through the yellow tube and come back down the stairs.

EK: No mommy. Mommy COOOMMMEEEE.

Me: Emma Kate!! Mommy is right here. I can hear you, just come back down the stairs. Let's go!!

EK: Now hysterical--NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, MOMMMMMYYY COMMMMMMEEEE.

I tried and tried to coerce her to come down on her own. I stuck my head in as far as I could up the twisty slide and told her to follow my voice. No luck. I went back to the narrow, spiral stairs and yelled from there. "Follow mommy's voice!! I am right here!!" Nothing but screams from a far off corner of colored-tube-world.

I looked around for some kid, just coming off of karate or gymnastics--with parents doing as I did: opting for a quickie, unhealthy cheeseburger dinner on a busy Wednesday night.

Nothing.

DO ALL MOTHERS IN AUBURN COOK DINNER??? Where are the children????? For goodness sake, I need a child to climb into Ronald McDonald's playhouse and bring down the princess from the tower!!!

No one came.

There was only one option.

Only. One. Option.

I was going in.

I kicked off my shoes and prayed that the green and red bolts were strong enough. I climbed up the narrow, spiral staircase. I climbed through the yellow tube, into the blue box and turned the corner into a big red car-looking-thingy. There, next to a life-sized tic-tac-toe board was my little girl--shivering and crying in the corner. It WAS dark in there. It WAS scary. When she finally saw my face, she stopped crying and crawled my way. As I backed down the way I so carefully came in, she followed me on her hands and knees--our faces very close together.

She whispered "Dat skerred Emma Tate, mommy."

I whispered, "Me too, Emma Kate."

She whispered, "Mommy annassh gone." (Mommy's ashes gone)

We made it all they way back down where a half-eaten cookie was still waiting on her. She gobbled it up and said....

"My pwize in derre," and pointed up to the big-red-car-looking thingy.

I looked at her wrist and realized that hello kitty was missing.

I grabbed our things, bought Daddy a happy meal for supper, gave Emma Kate the new "pwize" and headed home.