THE BROWN-GLASSES LADY brought her toys and she put a duck behind the hiding thing. Chub knew it was a duck because she left the top off the box when she came in and the duck was at the top of the box and when she put something behind the hiding thing the duck was not on the top of the box. Chub had a duck like that. Prairie gave it to him and it went in his tub when he had a bath and when he didn’t have a bath it went in the blue basket so Hailey could take her bath. Hailey did not have a duck and she didn’t play with his duck either when she took her bath.
Chub wanted the duck that the lady brought, except it wouldn’t be the same as his duck. It looked the same but it wouldn’t be the same. Nothing was the same here and he wanted to go home. Hailey came yesterday and Kaz came yesterday, but it wasn’t time to go home yet. They could only play with him a little while. Hailey was sad when they had to go. She didn’t want to go and Kaz didn’t want to go. The brown-glasses lady made them leave and he wished the lady would leave, but she came back.
The lady pretended she was very smart but she wasn’t very smart. Because the bagel, she said if Chub didn’t eat the bagel she would have to take the bagel away. But Chub put the bagel in his pocket. The pants today had a pocket and he put the bagel in the pocket and the lady didn’t know he put the bagel there. The pants were red. His shirt had a bug on it. A bug picture. Chub was waiting to see if he liked the bug or not. He put his hand on the bug picture a lot. It was shiny.
“So, Chub, can you tell me what is behind the screen?”
Ask ask ask. The lady asked questions and asked. Chub had to let some words out today because he told Hailey he would. He said words, he said no and dog and thank you because everyone likes when you say thank you. The lady liked it when he said thank you but then her mouth was mad again.
“Is it… the dog? Or maybe the shovel? Or the cup?”
Chub looked at her mouth making words. It was not the dog. It was not the shovel. Or the cup. It was the duck. She knew the duck was behind the hiding thing. She wanted him to say duck.
“Duck.”
The brown-glasses lady jumped up fast and Chub thought she might climb over the hiding thing but then she sat down on her chair again. The lady looked happy and Chub made a smile for her, because Hailey said to help the nice lady but Chub was thinking about Prairie because Prairie was in his mind-picture this morning and Prairie looked sad and the eye man was there and he put his hand on Prairie’s face and she looked sad. The eye man used to come visit Gram and he was scary and Hailey pushed a stick in his eye and made it crazy. Hailey pushed that stick in his eye but now he put his hand on Prairie’s face and then he put his face on her face and Chub wanted to tell Prairie to skedaddle, but it was only a mind-picture and he couldn’t tell her anything.
“That’s right, it is a duck, Chub! Aren’t you a smart boy! Aren’t you a good boy!”
Chub was a smart boy and he was a good boy but he wished the lady would close her mouth and he wished Hailey and Kaz would come back and he wished the eye man would leave Prairie alone.