“If I could save time in a bottle…” Jim Croce…1973

Today has been an “E” ticket ride (a term you old time Disney brats will remember) courtesy the woman I’ve given my heart to. After this “roller coaster” of a day, I’m beginning to understand the relationship between love and time. If love is the greatest gift one can give or receive, then time is the box it comes wrapped in. It would be difficult to over emphasize the importance of the relationship between these two elements of the human condition. Suffice to say that you cannot give one and withhold the other. One without the other would merely be an empty gesture. To my mind, and I can only speak for myself, true love is unconditional, yet strangely measureable by virtue of the time invested in nurturing it. Temper that with mutual respect and you have a formula that can stand the test of time. Realizing that affirmation made today’s emotional freefall a ride worth getting in line twice for. But always remember and never forget, nobody rides for free…

And now, chapter two of:

“KK Undercover…The Cookie Caper…”

Deer Canyon Elementary School

One of the risks of planning capers at recess is missing the bell. It sucks being the last one in the door. Not only do you have to deal with the ooohs and ahhhs, but you have to spend the rest of the day sitting next to Mrs. Ryan in the “seat of shame,” ugh! Fortunately I beat the new kid into the room by half a step, literally, having given him a flat tire right when we reached the doorway. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Ryan saw it, but I was too quick taking my seat for her to make a big deal about it. Besides, it was time for Geography (double ugh!) and I knew she was planning to show pictures of her vacation to Machu Picchu, whatever the heck that is? So, the new kid grabbed his books and took the slow walk back up the aisle to assume the position, giving me the stink-eye all the way…rookies! More on that later.

Anyways, while he’s cooling his jets in the hot seat I’ve gotta figure out how to get Winifred’s mom started on the cookie bait! Wait a sec, looks like Mrs. Ryan is pulling down the wall map, it’s officially geography time, woo hoo! This subject is so boring she nearly puts herself to sleep during the lesson, sweet! I’ll just jot down a quick note and tell Winnie to text her mom ASAP.

“Pssst, pass this back to Winifred,” I whispered to Zoe, the girl with the cutest curly hair that we’re all jealous over. Actually, I’ve tried to recruit her into the unit once or twice, but she’s too good, no natural sneaky tendencies, pity!

“Okay,” she replied cheerfully.

I kept my eyes on Mrs. Ryan while the note worked its way to Winifred in the back row. The tallest kids always got the back row seats, makes sense if you think about it. Anyways, Mrs. Ryan had pulled down the map of South America and was pointing out where Machu Picchu was located. Why would anyone go to another country on vacation when Disneyland, Sea World, and Legoland are all right here in San Diego? Bizarre, I know, maybe the school makes teachers go to weird places like this so they can teach kids how cool it is to live right here in good ole US of A!

“Pssst, back attcha,” Zoe whispered as she handed me Winifred’s reply.

I took the note from over my shoulder without looking back and unfolded the paper in my lap without breaking eye contact with Mrs. Ryan who had looked my way after hearing us with her super teacher ears (pretty sure they hand those out when you graduate from teacher school). She stared me down for a moment and then continued with her mesmerizing recounting of her trip to the famous Inca temple in Peru. By the way, I always mix up the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs, am I alone on that? I don’t think so! Anyways, back to Winifred’s note. Keeping my head pointed right at Mrs. Ryan I lowered my eyes to read Winnie’s reply:

KK,

I’ll text my mom at lunch, can’t do it know, she’ll ground me and take my cell phone away for a month for using it during class!
Me


Perfect! I love it when a plan comes together! I gave the secret signal, two quick coughs from me followed by one little sneeze from Claire, letting Winifred know that everything was A-O-K. Today at lunch the three of us would finish hatching our plan to trap the Deerfield Lunch Bandit before school let out tomorrow afternoon. SWEET!




Next post: chapter three “KK Undercover…The Cookie Caper”