The Prodigal Lion

What was lost has now been found! It was a traumatic night in the Gribble household. Lion was nowhere to be found at school, and we had to leave him behind. The teachers said they had all looked for him throughout the afternoon, to no avail. They said they’d seen Phoebe take him out to the playground, but he never came back. Phoebe seemed mildly unconcerned, and in fact chirped merrily all the way home. I have to admit that I’m more attached to the little guy than is healthy—I cried all the way home and into the evening. Come bedtime, Phoebe seemed like she wasn’t tired and bounced around in her crib. When I asked her if she remembered where she’d hidden lion, she said “trash can. And in bunny.” (I had checked out the trash can at the playground before we left, but he wasn’t there.) Unusually, though, she couldn’t get to sleep, eventually calling “my mommy! my mommy!” I burst into tears again. Finally, at 9:45 p.m. I decided that I’d never sleep if I didn’t go over and look in the trash and around the perimeter of the building. I drove to Take-A-Break, where I discovered lights on and people moving around. Feeling like I was going to be in trouble any minute, I scoped out the area around the playground where Phoebe plays. No sign of him. And the big trash bin said that it was under video surveillance.

As I rounded the corner of the building, a woman coming out the front door with three kids said “hello?” I clearly looked suspicious, so I told her the whole story. It turned out she’s the daycare owner’s daughter and had been cleaning. She hadn’t seen anything, but she was happy to let me look in the trash bags. She also let me in. Her husband said, “oh, the lion? They were looking for that thing all day!” We looked everywhere in Cedars, Phoebe’s room, and then I went to check out the playground again. Suddenly I heard, “I found the lion!” I couldn’t believe it! She had found him under the cabinet in the kitchen. I hugged her and brought him home, to great rejoicing. (Dave and I were rejoicing; Phoebe had fallen asleep.)

Lessons:

No more lion at school. Phoebe will have to pick out a nap animal.

One of the main things I’ve learned as a grownup is that if you lose something, look for it immediately.

Children are clearly born to rip out your heart.

I love that lion!

Luke 15:32, King James Version: “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

Here’s the missing flyer I made earlier in the evening to hang up at school tomorrow: