Lost

Yesterday, I lost the boy for a bit. When I saw him go out the front door, I assumed that he was going to ride his bike or scooter. A few minutes later, I walked past the windows and realized that I couldn't see him. So I went out front and called for him. No answer. I went back inside and asked Megan if she'd seen him. She hadn't. I went to his room and looked under his bed. No Tripp. I went downstairs and looked for him. Still nothing. I walked out to his tree house. Nada. I looked in his sister's clubhouse. But no. I even went into the garage. The garage, people! Still nothing. Then I went to the front of the house again. This time I saw him. Coming away from the front door of the house across the street. Which is bad. He's not allowed to go into any of the houses on our street, because I don't know the people and there are no kids his age in any of them. I asked him what he'd been doing. "Selling stuff." I asked what he was selling. "This"...while holding up a plastic Smurf that's definitely seen better days. It's grubby and nasty. But he was going door-to-door, trying to sell it. I had a brief hope that he'd only gone to the one house, directly across the street...but no. He went to ALL the houses. Selling a grimy Smurf. I'm sure the neighbors love us.