Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies by David Lubar

Author:David Lubar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

MOVING STAIRS

They were heading toward Florida to visit the grandparents. The afternoon of the second day, Dale’s parents pulled off the highway to look for lunch.

“Nice town,” Dale’s mom said as they drove into Lamford.

“Look at that,” Dale’s dad said, pointing across the town square. “Big store.”

Dale looked. It was the tallest building in town, as far as he could see. On the front, above four large glass double doors, were the words: HUFFDIBLE’S. Below that, in smaller letters, it read: MEETING ALL YOUR NEEDS SINCE 1932.

“Let’s go there,” Dale’s mom said. “I forgot to pack enough shirts.”

Dale’s dad sighed, but didn’t argue. He parked the car across the street, popped some coins in the meter, and led the family toward Huffdible’s. Dale sighed, too. He hated shopping with his parents. And he knew this wouldn’t be a quick trip. His mom would take forever picking out shirts, and then she’d remember she needed something else. Meanwhile, his dad would get all involved with a display of tools, or shoes, or something else just as uninteresting.

He followed his parents inside. The store was just like any other large store he’d ever been in. There was an escalator in the center, with a directory over it. Women’s shirts were on the second floor. Dale didn’t care about that. But he saw something that caught his attention. SIXTH FLOOR: TOYS, GAMES, AND MODELS.

That was worth a look. “Hey, Dad,” he said as they reached the second floor, “want to go check out the models? Maybe they have some cool rocket ships. Or a Corvette…”

His dad started to nod. Dale could see the word sure forming on his lips. But in mid nod, his dad’s head turned to the right. Dale sighed again as he watched his dad’s eyes lock on to something.

“Gosh—they have those new wallets—the ones with the extra section for credit cards. I have to check that out.”

“But…” Dale watched him go. Now he had a choice. He could stay with his mom. Or he could tag along after his dad.

Or he could break free.

“I’m going up to the sixth floor. I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes,” he told his mom. But he told it to her as quietly as he could. “Okay?” he said, louder.

She was distracted enough by the task of figuring out the final price of a blouse that was on the 5 percent off rack but with an additional 8 percent discount and a buy-two get-one-at-half-price special offer, that she nodded and said, “Sure.”

Dale headed up the escalator. The floors weren’t numbered. But he counted four flights, then stepped off. “Weird,” he said, looking around. All he saw was luggage. But there were more floors above him. Must have miscounted, he thought. He went higher. Several floors later, he saw the unmistakable colors and shapes of a toy section.

He walked past the infant toys, and the play sets. The fun stuff was beyond that. He checked out the slot car sets and RC planes. Then he looked for the models.

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