We're Closed

     The Windy Valley Town Mall in Windy Valley, Wisconsin, was the largest building in the entire county. Officially, it was now known as ECON Center, but the locals didn't give much mind to the rebranding or the buy-out.

However, they did give a lot of mind to the refurbishing and revitalizing.

The mall had been dying for years; most big brands had pulled out before their stores went bankrupt, and the few smaller businesses that remained were considered unwise for trying to stick it out. Until ECON Center came in, all that was left was a run-down fast-food place, a decaying play area for kids, a Santa Claus played by a working actor with a dubious background, scattered clothing shops here and there, a used bookstore, and a couple of local jewelry places that were frequented only in February or by the occasional man about to pop the big question. All in all, it had been like a ghost town or a run-down castle, once magnificent and booming with activity, now desolate and depressed. Eventually, it boasted only the occasional customer and shopkeeper rolling through like the proverbial tumbleweed. But then it was sold, and things took a turn.

Immediately, construction began, and numerous brands were persuaded by the wily and charming head of operations, the project manager (later Shopping Center Manager), Ryan Gregsen, to return and set up shop.

The focus was no longer to be on the drab, boring, and all too mundane world of adulthood, but on the world of dreams and imagination that is childhood.

Sure, there would still be clothing shops, shoe stores, and even that locally frowned-upon (but still mysteriously frequented) adult play store/prank shop so that the parents could have something to do—and indeed something to spend money on—while they left their kids to frolic about, but the mall was to be expanded and redecorated in bright, vivid colors, and great playsets and gaming areas were set up. There were elaborate jungle gyms; ball pits; playgrounds; high-tech interactive games; slides; trampolines and jumping stations; big, maze-like climbing structures, which were furnished with slides all around; and a movie theater. All this and more, more, more was added. And there was food: pizza, fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, ice cream, cotton candy. Fast food galore. It was like heaven for the growing population of children in Windy Valley. And indeed, as some adults say, childhood might be, for some, the closest one ever gets to God's Kingdom during life.

Windy Valley boasted only a population of about 20,000, but on opening day and beyond, the reopened mall was a roaring success. It was the talk of the town, and it was the talk of the county. Kids loved it, and their parents did too. The parents finally had a good place to drop off their kids so they themselves could get some alone time. Dumping them in front of the TV to watch mindless children's cartoons couldn't have been very good for them, but, until now, it was all they'd had. And so, it was this perfect symbiosis the mall provided that made Wendy Lauren decide one Wednesday afternoon to take her seven-year-old son Jake on a half-hour drive beyond their secluded country house to find something to do at the Windy Valley Town Mall.

Jake was very, very excited. They'd been doing nothing all that hot June day but watching old reruns on TV and trying their best to evade the heat seeping through the walls, but to little avail. Their clunky, ancient AC did next to nothing, and the heat and boredom were infesting their souls with solemn, steady progress.

Then, out of nowhere, mommy appeared to have been struck by a sudden idea. Jake was desperately curious to know what it was. He didn't have long to wonder, though, because she quickly went to the study where she kept her stash of petty cash and then returned with a question she already knew the answer to: "Who wants to go to the mall?"

Jake jumped up and down. "I do! I do! I wanna go! Please, please, please!" He did not seem to realize his mother didn't need much convincing, but he persisted with the ardour of a passionate law student. "Let's, Mom! Let's! We can get ice cream and samniches, and I can go to the ball pit," he said, tugging at her skirt.