When The Light Goes Out

Chapter - 26

There weren't many children in Monique's life. She saw them in passing often enough, but she wasn't sure at all about things that intrigued them or things likely to really get their attention. The idea to get Hedwig away from the zoo for a while was spontaneous and as such, so were the activities.

Hedwig walked around the house, his mouth agape, as he followed a trail of photos down the hallway. "Are these your picturesth?"

"Yes." Monique put her purse down on the kitchen counter and sighed. "I took some of them for the paper and some of them just as I walked around."

"Who are thesth people?"

"They're just normal people," she said as she searched through the drawers. "There's probably an article explaining it somewhere." She looked up from the drawer and nearly jumped out when she met eyes with Hedwig.

"What'sth wrong?" he asked when she leaned forward on the counter with a hand to her chest.

"You...you startled me," she replied.

"Sthorry... Can I sthee your camera?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Sure, I'll show you how it works."

Monique retrieved her camera and sat down with him on the couch. She showed him the pictures on her sd card. "How do you get the pictureth off?"

"I have to plug it into my computer and move them into a folder," Monique said. "I just had an interesting idea. Do you want to make a scrap book?"

"What's that?"

"I'll take a bunch of pictures of things you like then we'll put them on the computer, print them put out and then stick them in a book."

Hedwig looked around the room then turned back to her. "Okay."

Monique looked at her camera then back to Hedwig. I told Dennis we were going to stay at my house and order in but... "What do you say we go out for dinner?"

"Like outside?"

"Yes, in a restaurant. We can eat and find some things that you might want to put in your scrapbook."

The smile on his face diminished. "But... Mr. Dennisth sthaid-"

"Don't worry about that. I'll just let him know what happened if he gets upset." She put his hat back on his head. "We're going out tonight and we're going to have fun but you have to stay with me. Don't run off."

Hedwig nodded quickly.

"And don't tell Dennis."

He nodded again then ran to grab his coat from the by the door. She felt back leaving the mice in the hamster balls, but at least they wouldn't be cooped up in the carrier cage. They couldn't take them with them either way. Surely they wouldn't be gone too long. How much trouble could they get into?

Monique and Hedwig got back in the car and rode back into the city. They walked around for a few minutes snapping pictures. Hedwig wanted pictures of the oddest things: a fire hydrant, a tall building, street lights, someone's car with a rather interesting rendition of the Ghostbusters vehicle. Monique actually had to pull him into a restaurant.

It might not have been the best idea, but she promised him a milkshake for dessert. They talked over burgers and fries, Hedwig doing most of the talking. Now that they were sitting down, she could see that he couldn't have been anything but Kevin's inner child. Her mind couldn't help wandering back to the fact that he even had to create an alter like Hedwig. It was upsetting.

"Are we gonna take more picturesth?" Hedwig asked excitedly as they waited for the milkshake.

"Hm..." Monique looked at her watch. "It's almost midnight," she said. "I think we can take a few more pictures but you'll probably be too tired to make your book."