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Blog #4 - Milkshake Man

“Hey! Wake up Sleeping Beauty!” Caris woke with a start as Anna shook his shoulder.


“I’m up, I’m up!” Caris looked around him to get his bearings. He sat on the floor of Zip n’ Sip’s storage room with miles of snacks, sodas, and old skates in every direction.


“Hurry up! I want to go home! The storm is over and I want some pancakes.”
Caris stood up and walked out of the storage closet. The Zip n’ Sip employees who had gotten stuck with them had already started to sweep up leaves that had blown in through a broken window.


“Hey! You kids be safe out there. You know where you’re going?” The man who had made their milkshakes the day before walked over to them and handed the kids two raincoats he had found in the lost and found. They were both hot pink which Anna didn’t mind and Caris guessed he didn’t either. He was too tired and too cold to care.


The two kids thanked everyone and stepped outside. Immediately, the dirty slush soaked through Caris’s shoes and socks. As they walked, last night’s milkshake flipped in Caris’s stomach. He knew the storm was bad, but not this bad. Cars were flipped, trees lay in the road like some giant children had abandoned a game of pick-up-sticks, and rats ran everywhere looking for bits of trash that had been thrown by the wind.


As Caris walked, he began to think about Mr. Evans and his mission to discover what had happened to him. He realized that the storm had ruined whatever chances he had at discovering what happened. Any footprints would have been washed away, buildings and property were destroyed, and everyone who might’ve been willing to talk to him would be too preoccupied with repairing their belongings.


Caris shrugged and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his sparkly pink raincoat when he felt something crinkle under his fists. Caris pulled out the package and found a bag of Swedish Fish. The milkshake man must have seen him drooling over them all night in the storage room and put some in his pockets.


Even though Caris had lost Mr. Evans, he had found new friends last night and he knew that there would be many more.

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