Knock Knock

Jessica said, "Knock, knock," and I, of course, said - Who's there to which she replied, "Mother", and I replied - Mother, who, to which she said, "Mother me with kindness!" Okay, it is goofy, I know, but I laughed for about an hour altogether!

This is a typical account of our time spent together. She jokes, and I laugh. My favorite joke is pretty corny, but I tell it every year. It is - Why did the chicken cross the road? The response is - To show the skunks and porcupines that it can be done!

You can easily see why she tells the jokes. They aren't always good jokes either, but I get some laughs out of them, and that is what counts. So the other day, after several jokes and lots of laughter, we were laughing really hard when someone was at the back door.

I started to get up to answer the door when Jessica decided she wanted to answer with a joke. It had to be answered before she would open the door. I was hoping it wouldn't be anyone important that was at the door, and told her to go ahead and answer.

As we were drinking our raspberry hibiscus lattes, she invited the person into the house, saying as they came into the kitchen that this person deserves a latte for answering the joke. Jessica wanted to know where they had heard the joke and said that she thought she had made it up.

The young woman had huge saucers for eyes and some fear in those eyes. I did recognize her as a neighbor from across the alley from me. She was barefoot but otherwise fully dressed. It looked as though she might be going to church.

She was very timid and slowly replied to the question about how she knew the joke. She said, "I sit by your back door occasionally and was sitting there this morning. I heard this joke and didn't want to disturb your laughter."

"I enjoy listening to your jokes, as I never hear laughter in my house anymore. And today, I decided to come in and ask if I may join you once in a while for tea." We welcomed the young girl and told her she was welcome anytime to come for tea. We chatted on and learned more about Lucy.

Just then, a loud knock came from the front door. As I began to get up to answer the door, Lucy said, " I am going to leave now. Please don't tell anyone that I was here." Upon reaching the door, I could see that it was law enforcement.

The man at the door stated he was looking for a missing girl who lived across the alley. I told him that I was familiar with some of the neighborhood children and asked that they describe the child to me.

The man introduced himself to us as a neighbor who was just getting home from work, and his daughter wasn't there. He described her, and we knew right away that it was Lucy.

I didn't know what to say, but Jessica said, "No one has come to the front door except you since I got here this morning. We were just getting ready for church. Do you have a number we can reach you at in case we see or hear something?"

As soon as he left, I said, - Jessica, what on earth? That is apparently her parent, and he seemed frightened. Jessica said, "Yes, and I am frightened for Lucy. She didn't want us to tell anyone she was here, and until we find out what that is about, I don't think we should tell."

Okay, I said, then let's go to church. You don't want to be lying about that also do you?