Lit Device Short Story

I sprinted through the hallways, panic surging throughout my body. The already skinny aisles seemed like they were closing in on me, the bright lights overhead blinding me. It was so stuffy and hot in here, people swarming and crowding the small building. My breathing started to get heavier, sweat dripping down my forehead. Every place looked the same, the hard floor was the same color everywhere and my surroundings seemed to be no different, no way to tell where I was. The many twists and turns of the small building made me keep going in circles over and over again. This was all chaos I had created for myself, all I had to do was to watch him, that was all I had to do.

-3 hours earlier-

Beep! Beep! my alarm clock blared at me. I struggled to find the button to turn off the horrible sound. I had to get out of bed and wake up Kevin in a few minutes. I threw off the covers and picked up a piece of paper Kevin’s parents had handed me yesterday night.

It was instructions of how to take care of him. I read through the part about last night and skipped to the section talking about this morning.

It read:

Wake up Kevin around 8:00 am,  feed him breakfast (from the fridge) and you can let him watch TV in the family room if he wants. Around 9:00 I want you to go out to a grocery store and get some groceries (I left that list on the kitchen counter for you). Before then I want you to get Kevin ready for the day, brush teeth, hair etc.

“Good morning sleepy head.” I said as I walked into Kevin’s room. “It’s time to wake up and get ready for the day.”

Kevin rolled over in his bed to look at me. “Can I watch TV too?” he asked me, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah of course, and we can also play with those new cars you told me about.”

His eyes lit up, “Oh yeah! I’m so excited to play with you Carly!” Then he jumped out of his bed like a grasshopper, and he flung the covers across the room and ran right out the door, down the stairs. I followed after him, grabbing my phone and the piece of paper on the way. I saw Kevin running toward me, remote in hand.

“Here you go. Just press the green button to make the TV work.” he told me. I did as he said, seeing the list of recorded TV shows like: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Sesame Street, and Spongebob.

“So what do you want to watch, Kevin?” I asked him. He looked at the TV screen and then back at me very intently like this decision depended on his life.

“I pick……” he looked back at the TV once again. “Jake and the Neverland Pirates!”

“Awesome! And I believe for breakfast you have a choice of, a bagel and cream cheese, or leftover pancakes.” I informed him.

“I’ll have some pancakes, please.” he smiled at me and then ran over to the couch to start watching his show.

“Coming right up, Kevin.” I told him. So I heated up the pancakes, and served them to him with syrup. I made a little something for myself too, joining Kevin on the couch to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We had some fun, playing with his cars, and eating breakfast with each other. Every now and then I would look at my phone to see what time it was, and now it was 8:35. If I wanted us to get to the grocery store on time, we had to start getting ready.

  I convinced Kevin to go upstairs and get dressed for the day, telling him to brush his hair and his teeth as well. I got ready too, getting my clothes out from the small suitcase I had. I was also instructed to give Kevin’s parents an update on how well things were going. I mostly told them about how good he was, and how we was getting ready and eating breakfast without complaints. I also asked them how their business trip to New York was.

Once Kevin and I were ready, I grabbed the keys to my car, the grocery list, and we started to drive to the new Mariano’s grocery store. I had heard it was going to be busy today since it was only the third day since it’s premiere opening. I studied the list in the front seat while Kevin was getting buckled and playing with his toy cars. All I had to do was get a few things, this shouldn’t be so hard.

Once we arrived, I unbuckled Kevin, and locked the car behind us. “My cars are in a big race.” Kevin told me. “They are going to race around the whole store! And whoever gets to the exit first, wins!” he said excitedly.

“That sounds cool Kevin, who do you think will win?” I asked him.

“Well I think that they are both really fast but I don’t know who’s gonna win.”

“Ok, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” I replied. We started to walk toward the dairy aisle, while Kevin made his toy cars race on the shelves and sides of the walls along the way. I kept having to tell him to watch out for the ton of people around us. We picked up things like yogurt, bagels, grapes, cereal, and I just needed to buy one more thing, frozen pizza. I couldn’t figure out where that aisle would be, the place was so big, so I looked up at the signs around me.

Some read, Breakfast foods, Bread, but I couldn’t find the frozen foods aisle. I searched around the corners of shelves, not being able to find it. I eventually asked an employee there, asking where I could find it. He told me, “Just take a left at the Dairy aisle and then you’ll see the restroom sign, then take a right. You’ll find your pizza there.”

I thanked him, and headed that way. I felt like I was missing something, a food perhaps, but I continued on and eventually found the pizza, and put it in the cart.

“Ok Kevin, let’s go checkout.” I told him. I looked around me, where were the vroom vroom noises coming from Kevin. Everything was silent except for the raging sound of the people around me. Where was Kevin? I left the cart where it was, and started to search the area around me. I looked in all of the aisles we had been in. Dairy? Nope. Bread? Not here. Kevin was gone.

I ran around everywhere, looking at the entrance, cash registers, and even asking random people if they had seen him. I couldn’t lose this kid, this was my one job to take care of him, his parents are never going to forgive me.  I suddenly had the thought to ask the employee I saw earlier. I looked for the nearest customer help button, and saw him walking toward to help me.

“Have you seen a little kid named Kevin?” I asked him. “He’s only five years old, and is playing with toy cars.”

“No I haven’t, I’m sorry.” He replied. “But I can help you. Where did you last see him, did you retrace your steps?”

“No, But I will.” I sprinted toward the dairy aisle, walking through to where I had gotten my first groceries. I soon ran to the spot where I asked for his help, searching around there. After that, I ran to where I left my cart, almost crying because I’d lost him. He was nowhere to be found. I had decided to call the parents and when I reached into the cart,

I saw Kevin! He was smiling at me, from in the cart, and asked, “What took you so long? I was waiting for you to push me.” he said happily. “The cart is like a car, so I can go fast too.” I smiled back at him with relief, just wanting to get out of here.

“Oh, I thought I had lost you Kevin!” I told him “Now let’s get to the finish line, and get out of here.”

“Ok.” He replied simply, just playing with his cars again.

“Let’s go!” I said as I zoomed him through the thick crowd, being first to the cash register. As soon as we payed for the food, I ran the cart all the way to the exit door.

“And the winner is….Kevin!” I announced excitedly.

Then I rode the groceries, and Kevin thankfully, all the way back home, safe at last.