Bedtime, Jack

We all have our favorites. Favorite foods, favorite places, hobbies things that make us feel secure in our world. Things that bring us a feeling of familiarity and contentment. It was summer and her favorite toy was a bendable Jack from Jack-in –the Box. He was blue with the signature white head and pointy yellow hat. She scurried outside to play in the warm sunshine where she remained a good part of the day. As bedtime approached, all her usual toys were gathered up in the nightly regime. There was the blankie, purple pelican, and Jack. Wait! No Jack. Where was he? We looked all over, and then I remembered she had taken him outside with her. We went out into the fading daylight and began our search. "Jack? Ja-aack?"  There he was in the middle of the lawn. I quickly retrieved him and stopped in horror. Oh no! The dog had gotten him and chewed him. Maybe she wouldn’t notice. (Yeah right.) But the damage was done. Although not too severe, it was noticeable. His hat was chewed off. The screaming began. She was sooo distraught! She was genuinely grieving over her best friend who had been violated and was now incomplete.  “Don’t cry sweetie, I can fix him." The screams lessened but the tears did not stop. I began frantically searching for a replacement hat. I needed something to make Jack all better if I wanted her to go to bed any time soon. I searched and searched. "Don’t worry honey, we are gonna get him all fixed up. I’m a Jack doctor, okay?"  Let’s see… thimble, no wrong color, bottle cap? No to flat. I opened the refrigerator. Ah ha! There it was. The squeeze mustard. And its top was not only yellow and pointed, but just the right size. "Okay, I got his new hat!" I proudly announced with relief. I set to work and within just a few minutes and some super glue I had him looking good as new. The tears lessened and then eventually stopped as she carefully inspected his new hat. It had passed muster. Or should I say mustard.