The Eye Beheld
an excerpt

“Did you find everything ok?”

“Well,” she started. “I love the jeans, but I can’t seem to fit into them. I thought they were my size, but there’s something funny around the pocket area…” she trailed off.

She didn’t know how they didn’t fit. It’s just that they felt really tight around the pockets in the front and so she felt like she should try a larger size. “Do you have anything larger?”

“Sure I can grab some for you. Just stay put.” She went back into the change room and sat down. Soon, the woman appeared with a size more appropriate and Meula thanked her. She tried on this pair and they fit just fine. She still felt a little bit of pressure around the front of the hip area, but for the most part yes, they fit just fine. She looked at herself in the mirror and imagined that she had the new top on as well. Wow, she was going to be the coolest girl in school when she walked into class wearing this outfit. She took the fancy jeans off and changed back into her old clothes. She walked out of the change room and she said, “I’ll take them,” to the woman, who smiled again and went to the register to ring her up.

“Here. I’ll even throw in some gloss for you. What’s your poison?”
“My poison?”
“What kind would you like?”
“Oh.”
She walked over to the counter near the door and perused the display. She chose one that she hoped tasted as good as the name implied. There was a little radio set up playing a lip-gloss themed song and she lingered a moment to absorb the lyrics.

“I’ll take the chocolate raspberry dream one, please.” The woman grabbed the lip-gloss and tossed it into her bag, and then handed Meula the receipt.

“Returns or exchanges only with receipt within thirty days, ok? Have a nice day.” Meula took her new purchase and with the few dollars she had left, she decided to go get a corn dog and a large cup of lemonade. It was there that she ran into Ms. Noble’s cousin, Jenny, in the food court eating a plate of Chinese food.

“Can I join you?” she asked. “Sure.” The older girl motioned for her to sit as she continued to gobble the noodles.

“I’m going to go buy a corn dog. Would you watch my bags for me?”
Cousin Jenny nodded and continued to eat as Meula went over the food lines. When she came back with her hot dog, the girl was gone and so were her bags!

Panic set in and Meula looked around the food court anxiously as she tried to spot the girl. She stood at the table for long moments, trying to decide what to do. All that time here at the mall, wasted. She did not have anything to show for it but a corn dog and a drink, which would be gone in a few minutes. She ran off in the other direction to find Ms. Noble.

The older girl came out of the restroom a few moments later to find Meula nowhere in sight. She looked around the food court and saw no sign of Meula. “Great,” said cousin Jenny. “Now I am stuck carrying around that girl’s bags.”