“…Eyeballs…” Bk II: 20. Mall Cruising

Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?

By Kate Chamberlin

As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they’re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated by the fictional characters in these stories are valid, tried and true.

Book II:  The Teenagers

#10. Bad News

#11.  Grace’s Day One

#12 Knight With Shining Flatware

#13. The Locker Fiasco

#14. Lost In Thought

#15. The Musician

#16. Day Two And Beyond

#17. First Date

#18. The Zipper Creep

#19. Making Up

#20. Mall Cruising

Grace and Crackers had practiced working the mall during several training trips and enjoyed the freedom of walking effortlessly through the crowd of busy shoppers, moms with strollers, and splashing, noisy fountains. Grace was a bit nervous about how Ken, Edie, and Joe would take to traveling with a guide dog team. “Crackers and I are still relatively new to each other. Would you help me keep up her training?”  Grace asked her friends as they entered the wide, glass, automatic doors to the mall.

“Sure,” they agreed. “What do you want us to do?”

“Let’s let her work. I need to trust her, but, if you could give me verbal directions, I’d feel safer.”

Grace picked up the harness handle with her left hand and said, “Crackers, forward.” Crackers did as she was commanded and the four friends walked along, passing the many storefronts inside the mall.

Crackers would indicate store doors on their right with a little swing of her head, but she kept on walking straight. Straight, that is, until she made a sudden turn to the right, forcing Grace toward an open door.

“Wait,” Ken said. “That’s a coffee shop.”

“Maybe she wants a latte,” Edie laughed.

“Let’s all go in for a latte,” Joe suggested, so they did.

Once at their table, Grace had Crackers tuck in under the table with her head next to Grace’s chair.

“When she sits like this,” Grace explained, “she can see who is coming and won’t get worried for my safety.”

“Will she stay down the whole time we’re here?” Joe asked.

“Yes, she should….” Grace started to say.

“Unless, someone comes by, dribbling a ball!”  Ken teased and they all laughed.

Back out in the mall, they told Grace what was in each store window as they passed by. Crackers did well going straight and avoiding strollers, people, and the fountain pools. Until suddenly she made a sharp left turn. An enormous man almost mowed Grace down. Grace apologized and corrected Crackers, wondering why she’d veered so sharply.

“Put out your hand and feel where she is,” Edie said.

Grace did and felt the plastic fronds of a large plant in a huge, cement planter.

“Why did she do that?”  Joe asked. “She’s supposed to be so smart.”

“I think she is trying to tell us that she needs to piddle,” Grace said. “Is there an outside door near here?”

“Yes, just a few stores to the right,” Ken said.

Crackers relieved herself on the real grass outside and they re-entered the mall.

“Well, there’s something to be said about the power of suggestion,” Edie giggled. “Now I have to go, too.”

“Me, too,” Joe said and they headed for the restrooms.

In the Lady’s Room, Grace said, “Crackers, bathroom.” Crackers took Grace right into a stall and turned around.

“Down,” Grace told her, so the stall door could close by passing over her back.

“Oh, my Gosh,” a lady said. “There’s a dog in here!”

“It’s okay,” Grace called out. “She’s a girl, too.”

Back in the mall, as they were discussing the display in the GAP window, a little boy came up to pet Crackers. Grace felt Crackers nudge her thigh and realized what was happening.

“Please don’t pet the dog,” she said gently, putting her hand on the harness’ shoulder strap. “I can’t see, so, when she is wearing this, she is working to keep me safe and may not play with you.”

Quick as a wink, the boy’s twin brother came up and asked, “Hey! You got eyeballs in there?”

Grace was used to young children asking innocent and direct questions and knew that her reflective lenses prevented people from seeing her eyes.

“Yes,” she said. “I have eyeballs in there, but they don’t work.”

The boys’ mother hurried up with an infant in a stroller. “I’m so sorry. They’re just so hyper and curious.”  She corralled the twins and hurried on down the mall.

Later, the four friends met up with several other students from their high school. There was a feeling of relaxed camaraderie. Even the “big” kids had some questions.

kathryngc1@verizon.net