Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit

We step outside the phone booth to wait in bustling Union Station, crowded with people catching trains or greeting arrivals. Kit and I are happy Charlie is the one meeting us.

When Charlie arrives, Kit hugs him, eager to tell him what happened. He grins and bets it’s a lulu. We all laugh.

Charlie has good news. Buddy found his way home by himself, and Mrs. Howard is caring for him now. Kit and I gasp with relief.

Kit says we’d better get home right away. I smile, unsurprised. I knew Buddy would win Mrs. Howard over eventually, and knowing he’s welcome in the Kittredge household settles a worry about who’d care for him once I leave.

Thinking about the Kittredge household makes me miss mine, and my heart tugs at the thought of Mom. I’m longing for home. As Kit, Charlie, and I start to leave Union Station, I stop.

I tell Kit it’s time to go home. She says we’ll be home soon, but I mean my home. I miss Mom. I can’t tell the truth about the camera, so I simply say I can use my return ticket here.

Kit hugs me, says it was wonderful to meet me, and that she’ll never forget me. Charlie agrees, adding I’ll always be the lulu-liest Lulu he’s known.

I won’t forget Kit and Charlie either, I say, thanking them for everything. Kit’s eyes fill with tears, and I watch her and Charlie walk away, his arm around her shoulder, until I can’t see them anymore. Then I click the camera and go home.

I find myself sitting on my bedroom floor, exactly as before, with my clothes, books, and sports equipment tossed in heaps. But I see it differently now, careless and thoughtless, as if I’m too spoiled to value my belongings.

Thinking of how little Kit had, and how some of the people we saw had nothing, I blush with shame and clean up until only the camera is left. Curious whether it would take me somewhere again, I click it. Nothing happens. That’s right, I think, I’ve had a wonderful adventure with Kit. I don’t need to be greedy.

I put the camera back in the box of secondhand clothes where I found it, then head to the kitchen to make Mom a snack of apples and cheese, ready for when she gets home from work.

When Mom gets home, she hugs me, grateful for the snack. I tell her I’m the grateful one, and that I want to show it every day by taking care of my belongings. For now, words are enough, so I thank Mom for everything she’s given me.