Little Girl Lost

"This is a customer announcement. Would the parents of a lost little girl, please go to the reception desk."

We were in Matalan, looking for a nightie and some gym shirts for the little girl. We'd found the gym shirts and were looking at the nighties. The little lass was bored as usual but brightened up when she saw some Barbie lunch bags.

"Do you think she'll like this one?" said the wife, holding up a Barbie nightie.

"I don't know," I replied. "I'll go and find her and ask her."

I went over to where I saw her last, looking at the lunch bags, but she wasn't there. No panic, I thought, she'll be around somewhere.

But she wasn't. We started looking for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. By this time all sorts of nasty things were going through my mind. You hear about people abducting kids all the time.

Then the tannoy crackled into life.

We hurried around to reception and there she was, all tearfull and looking frightened. Poor little lamb.

Stuck to me like glue for the rest of the day.