Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit

We step outside of the phone booth to wait. Union Station is a bustling place. The wooden benches are crowded with people. Folks are rushing by to catch trains or buses or running to hug people they’ve come to meet. So Kit and I are happy that Charlie coming to meet us.

When Charlie arrives, Kit hugs him and says that she can’t wait to tell him what happened. Charlie says it’ll be a great story. In fact, he grins at me, he bets it’s a lulu. We all laugh. See, it is possible for a guy to be nice looking and nice.

And then, Charlie says that he has good news. Someone found his way home all by himself. Kit and I gasp. Smiles lit up our faces as we realize that Charlie means Buddy. Charlie says that Mrs. Howard is taking loveing care of him right now.

Kit grimaces and says we better get home right away. I smile to myself. I knew Buddy would make Mrs. Howard fall in love with him sooner or later. And knowing he’s 100% welcome in the Kittredge household is a relief because it resolves a nagging worry I’ve had about who will care for Buddy when I leave.

Thinking about the Kittredge household makes me miss mine. I feel a funny tug at my heart when I think of Mom and realize that I am longing for home. So just as Kit, Charlie, and I are about to leave the depths of the Union Station, I walk out into the sunshine and stop.

I tell Kit that it’s time for me to go home now. Kit nods and says we’ll be home soon. I shake my head and say I mean my home. I miss my mother. I can use my return ticket here. And Buddy will be happy with Mrs. Howard to care for him. Kit looks at me longingly, and then suddenly she hugs me and says it was wonderful to meet me. She will never forget me. Charlie adds that he won’t either. I’ll always be the lulu-liest Lulu he’s ever known.

I tell them that I won’t forget them either, and I thank them for everything. Kit’s eyes are full of tears. I watch Kit and Charlie walk away, his arm slung over Kit’s shoulder to comfort her, until I can’t see them anymore. Then I click the camera and go home.

I find myself sitting on the floor of my room. Everything is the same as it was before, with my clothes and books and sports equipment all tossed in heaps. But I see it differently now. My room looks worse than just messy and disorganized. It looks careless and thoughtless, as if I’m so spoiled that I don’t value my belongings.

I think about how little Kit had, and how some of the people that we saw had nothing. I blush, ashamed. And I set to work cleaning up my room. I hang up my clothes, put books on the shelf, and put my sports equipment in the closet. Pretty soon there’s only one thing left to put away: the camera. What would happen if I clicked it again? Would it bring me back to Kit, or to another place? I’ve got to find out. With a mixture of jittery curiosity and hope, I click the camera. But nothing happens. That’s right, I think, I’ve had a tremendous and wonderful adventure with Kit. I don’t need to be greedy.

I put the camera back into the box with the secondhand clothes where I first found it. Then I go to the kitchen to make a nice snack of apples and cheese for Mom. It’ll be waiting for her when she comes home from work.

When Mom does get home, she wraps me into a hug and says she’s very grateful for my snack. I hug her and tell her that I’m the one who is grateful. I know that I want to show Mom how grateful I am every day from now on, by taking care of my belongings. But for now, words will have to do. So I thank Mom for everything that she has given me.