The news . . .

I walk through the sliding glass doors and look around. Pulling out my phone, I look at the time. 2:14. I slipped it back into my pocket and walk toward the hair products aisle. There is a man with long hair, all the way down his back, standing next to a cage built into the wall which contains valuable items. I glance at him and bend down to grab a small black wet hairbrush. "Mommy! Look there's a policeman!", a little girl's voice says. I look to my right and smile. There's a woman with her daughter standing at the end of the aisle. I stand up and walk over. I squat down in front of the little girl and say, "Why, hello, little one. You like police officers, don't you?" She smiles brightly and says, "Ya! I want to be one when I get bigger!" I chuckle and stick my hand in my pocket. I pull out a police badge sticker and hand it to her. "Well, you already got your badge, little Missy." She squeals, takes the sticker, and peels off the back. She slaps it onto the front of her dress and says, "Thank you, officer!" She looks up at her mother and says, "Look, mommy! Ima police officer now!" I stand up and dust off my pants. Her mother chuckles and picks her up. "Yes, you are, honey." She looks at me and says, "Thank you, officer . . . ?" I smile and finish her sentence. "Jakob. Officer Jakob." She looks me up and down and says, "Well, Officer Jakob, have a good rest of your day." Her daughter waves at me as they walk down another aisle. I wave back and walk toward the cash register. There an old man with white-gray hair checking out a young lady. She thanked the man and walked away. I walk and say, "How are you doing today, sir?" He laughs and says, "Good, I guess. How's yours?" I shrug and say, "Couldn't have been any better." I put down my brush and he scans the barcode. "That'll be 3.20. Cash or card?" I dig in my back pocket and take out my wallet. "Card," I say as I hand him my card. He takes it and swipes it. I hear the TV turn on and the news reporter saying, "Tonight, two parents are sickened for their runaway child, Michael Afton. He has been missing for at least one hour."