The Friendship Puddle

Walking across the Publix Supermarket parking lot, what I was hoping was my shopping list, but instead was a senseless receipt from Target for a t-shirt my son had already worn countless times in two weeks, fell out of my purse and into a puddle. Not wanting to litter, I picked up the receipt, and next to it was a red and blue string-yarn friendship bracelet. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, because it was wet and dirty, but my son is a scavenger which made me one too. Everything on the ground was a treasure to him, and although he mostly likes finding the loot himself, he would be mad if he learned that I passed on this work of art crafted by a friend for a friend, for he had taught me better than that. I plopped the bracelet into my purse and went inside.

I hadn’t remembered to bring my shopping list and pondered the likelihood I would get everything on it. Snatching a few indulgences from the bakery and chip aisle, never needing a list to remember these items, I headed to the self-checkout. I unloaded my reusable bag—it’s somewhat incredible that I had remembered to take it into the store—and scanned each item. The screen read $38.89; just a bit over budget and totally worth the cinnamon roll and salt and vinegar chips, I justified.

In the parking lot, I fished for my keys in my crowded purse and out-plopped the bracelet into the puddle. Maybe it lived there, I thought. This is ridiculous, I should just leave it alone, as my son would not be the wiser. But then I thought how much he would enjoy the story about how I fished the bracelet out of the dirty puddle twice for him, so I picked it up and pushed it down into my purse making sure it stayed inside this time.

I got home and found my shopping list safe and sound on the counter. Lettuce! I forgot the lettuce for my son’s bearded dragon, which, by the way, I vetoed getting. I had enough to care for around the house with two kids, 3 cats, a dog, a job, and now a bearded dragon.

“She will starve!” my son shrieked and implored me to go back to the store.

“OK. OK. Shhh, Daddy’s sleeping.”

He said he would go with me this time to get a free cookie from the bakery.

Being a creature of habit, I parked in the same spot I had parked in ten minutes ago. It was just after 8:30 in the morning, so the store wasn’t busy yet, and the parking lot looked just as I’d left it.

My son didn’t resist jumping two feet into the puddle and splashing both of us! White shoes were never meant to stay white anyway. This reminded me of the bracelet. I opened my purse and out-plopped the bracelet back into the puddle.

“Mom! Where’d you get this?” My son swooped up the bracelet and wiped it off on his t-shirt.

“I found it right here. I had it in my purse to give to you.”

“It belongs to Benjamin VanHoose.” My son refers to his friends by both their first and last names.

“Benjamin?” I couldn’t recall who he was.

“Benjamin VanHoose from my second-grade class!” He was getting worked up.

“Honey, how can you be sure? You haven’t seen him in over two years.” I doubted it could be his.

“I made it Mom. I know it’s his! Red and blue are his favorite colors. I made the loom myself and the bracelet for him before he moved away. He said he wouldn’t take it off, so we would be friends forever.”

“OK, you have it back now.” I reasoned.

“It doesn’t work that way!” He dropped his head sadly.

“Don’t I have his mother’s number?” I asked, gently pulling his chin up so he could see my warm smile. “I’ll give her a call.”

“I sent him a text, but he never wrote back.” He threw the bracelet into the puddle.

We walked to the store, and I led him straight to the bakery so he could get his free cookie and hopefully cheer up. I realized I left my reusable bag in the car. I was only there to get lettuce for the bearded dragon, but now I wanted to pick up supper too. I had chicken breasts in the freezer, but the rotisserie chickens in the deli smelled good and would go splendidly with the coleslaw and potato salad they had on sale.

“Do you want to stay here? I’ll run to the car and get my bag.” He nodded.

I jogged to the car looking back at him eating his cookie by the window. SPLASH! My white sneaker caught the last step of the puddle, and beside it, in the puddle, was the bracelet my son made for his friend. I picked it up thinking he may want it when he felt better. I shoved the bracelet into my purse and ran the rest of the way to the car.

I was back in the store in less than two minutes. We got the lettuce, chicken, and sides, and went to the self-checkout.

“Watch out for the puddle!” I warned my son on the way to the car.

“Where is it?” Two young voices asked at the same time.

“My bracelet!” they continued in unison. My son and a boy wearing the same Target t-shirt looked at each other and then back at the puddle.

I fished the bracelet out of my purse and held it up. “You mean this?”

“Yes!” They both said.

“I made it for my friend.” My son said indignantly.

I nodded at the boy’s mother who was likewise content in letting them work it out.

“My friend lost it.” The boy said.

“Benjamin VanHoose.” They said together and looked at each other strangely.

“He moved far away because his dad is in the army.” My son said.

“Belgium. That’s where my father was stationed before we came here.” The boy seemed sure they were speaking of the same kid.

“We played all the time at the park on base. Our favorite thing to do was-

“Climb the chains of the swings and race to the top.” My son finished the stranger's sentence.

“I found the bracelet in the park and didn’t see him again before we left.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, sorting through the strangeness of their familiarity, although they had never met.

“What’s your favorite thing to eat?” The boy asked.

“Mint chocolate chip ice cream!” They said at the same time.

“Benjamin VanHoose’s too!” They said together.

They went on like this, finishing each other’s sentences and asking questions with the same answers.

“My name is Sean Thomas. What’s your name?” The boy asked.

“Kaileb Tilley.” My son answered and they performed a secret handshake they had only done with Benjamin VanHoose.

Sean Thomas’ mother was just as happy to watch what was happening as I was. She explained they had been at the store earlier that morning when her son slipped on his wheelie sneakers into the puddle and got his shirt muddy. The bracelet must have slipped off then. They went to Target to get a new t-shirt, because they still had several errands to run that morning before going home. Sean Thomas noticed his bracelet was gone and thought it must be in the puddle where he fell. He hadn’t taken it off since he found it on the playground in Belgium.

With his dire urging, they rushed back to the Publix parking lot, and there we were.

“Here, you keep it Sean Thomas.” My son gave the boy the bracelet. “Now we can be friends forever!”

We waved as we pulled away. My son was brimming with joy! Unable to resist the urge for salt and vinegar, I reached for my bag of chips, and my receipt flew out the window and into the puddle. I couldn't help but wonder if there was magic in that puddle and what friendship would be rekindled for the person who picked up the receipt.