by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: October 28, 2007

"Come with me little girl," directed a deep voice in a policeman looking uniform. Annie knew he wasn't a policeman though because he wore a star shaped badge. Policemen in her town wore oval badges; and her brother had told her people called security guards worked in this store.

But, security guard or policeman, Annie knew he'd caught her red handed even though he had yet to ask her for the candy she'd tucked away in her pocket. His quiet whispery voice sounded a little nice, but a lot serious. She figured he talked that way because he didn't want anyone except her to hear him; and he wanted her to know he wasn't playing around.

The man escorted Annie through the crowd that consisted mostly of women with children seated in carts or tagging along beside them. A shameful feeling gutted Annie's insides as she realized all eyes were on her. She didn't think she could've felt more ashamed. Everyone in the store, it seemed even when they didn't appear to be watching watched as the guard took her away.

Quickening her steps to keep up with the guard's long strides, she let her eyes scan beautiful dresses she'd inspected before deciding to take the lousy candy bar. That was right before she'd been prepared to leave the store empty handed. She wished she had left empty handed the way she had so many times before.

They passed the sparkled red shoes that reminded her of Dorothy's ruby slippers. Right now she completely identified with Dorothy's dilemma of wanting to go home. If she could put on those fake "no place like home" slippers and click them together stopping this man from taking her some place she didn't want to go, she would.

Annie knew, no fantasy, or dream, or magic would save her. And though she'd brought this problem on her self; she didn't understand why a problem like this could happen in the first place. She didn't understand why a store, filled with so many colorful, enticing, expensive new things couldn't let her have a lousy candy bar.

Ignorant to the fact that stores were businesses people ran in order to earn livings enabling them to enter other stores to "buy" things they wanted, Annie was of the impression that things in stores were there simply because they were there. To Annie, things seemed to have appeared from thin air; and she didn't think it was fair that she couldn't have some of them.
Annie didn't know about manufacturing, or distribution, or merchandising. But she knew she liked hanging out in stores because they were clean, and fresh, and the

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