It was really overcrowded in the mall. It should be illegal to have this many people in one place. Come to think of it, I bet this place was exceeding the fire hazard limit. Anyway, I couldn’t see Aliana or Mom anywhere. They just left me like they always do, on the line ( that was a mile or so long) to wait until they are finished and ready to pay. Ugh, the guy in front of me smells like he lives in a dumpster and the baby in the stroller was making everyone deaf. I couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped my fingers, then slowly and carefully made my way to where I thought I saw Mom behind a rack of jeans. I took a moment to look at them, the way they were now. Aliana had a pair of Seven jeans pressed up against her, trying to get Mom’s attention and try to convince her to buy them. Mom’s attention was occupied on a pair of stilettos. I grabbed whatever they both had in their hands, but I was careful to put the jeans back before anyone got suspicious about them. Mom would never let Aliana wear those. I walked back to where the cashier woman was. She was middle-aged and very tired looking. I could see this day wasn’t helping that fact. The frustration was clearly painted on her face. I decided it was my job to make her smile. Ha. I turned the corners of her mouth into a smile. Now it just looked like she was constipated. Oh, well I tried. I checked out, I figured what’s the use, but I did it anyways. I went back and placed the bags in Mom’s hands. Snap.

“Annalena!” shrieked Mom. Clearly, she was not expecting me. I silently laughed to myself.

“Yeah? Can we go now? You guys already paid.” I said.

“We did? When?” Aliana caught on and asked.

“Just now,” I replied, “don’t you see the bags?” I watched her see the bags and a surprised, confused expression crossed both their faces. This routine was usual for me.



“You guys probably are suffering from temporary amnesia.” I suggested as I steered them both into the parking lot, but not before smiling at the woman at the register. She smiled back. I wonder what made her happy all of a sudden. The world may never know.