Melissa’s Wonderland

Help! I just spent the last hour locked inside a closed Zellers department store. Somehow the girls and I innocently wandered into a closed store–one door was unlocked. It seemed strange that we were the ONLY people in the entire store, but the lights were on and music was playing. We proceeded to look for a new bathing suit for Tabitha. After we found a meager two to try on, we proceeded to the change rooms–commenting how odd it was that we were the only people in the store and there seemed to be no tellers open. None of the bathing suits fit–everyone seems to be sold out of all the decent sizes! All that are left are large. Anyway, we walked to the front doors only to discover they were all locked up–including the one we’d entered through. So I shouted out “anyone working tonight?” We toured the store, including the stock room. Not a soul. Then Tabs had to pee. The light suddenly went dim–an auto shut off was in affect. The bathroom was pitch black and I could not locate any light switches on any of the walls–we gave up trying to “feel” our way to a toilet. I then went to one of the tills, picked up a phone and dialed home. Peter answered and I explained our predicament. He said he’d call the cops to come let us out. So we decided to have a little fun and joined hands and skipped through the isles of the empty store, stopping to browse through the toys. At this point, a few phones rang at the front of the store and I raced to answered them. It was security asking if we had a code. I told them, “No, but I’m locked in this store with my kids and we want out!” After about half an hour, Tabs started crying–she was worried we’d be trapped all night. I was totally calm because it was like a childhood fantasy come true–locked in a department store with toys and candy galour! We waited in front of the main doors to calm Tabs–occasionally dancing for the security camera. After about ten minutes, a woman finally came to the front doors with a key. The cops never did show up but called me once I got home to ask how we got out. They’d told Peter they were on the way to the store but we waited minimum a half an hour before the Zellers employee finally came after security called her (the ones I talked to on the phone). So there you have it…yet another adventure in Melissa’s wonderland.