Don't Touch My Bat

This afternoon, Annie purchased a rubber Halloween bat. It wore a goofy expression on its little batty face, and sported a nifty elastic cord attached to the back of its neck for hanging.  I think she was planning to hang it from the dining room light fixture as a Halloween decoration. I hope she enjoyed the thought, because she never got the chance to hang it anywhere. In fact, the last time she even touched the bat was when she placed it onto the store counter before the clerk bagged it. 

Joey found the bat.  Annie was busy pulling other purchases from the bag and didn’t notice Joey grabbing it with a delighted grin. His big sister brings him the neatest stuff!

There’s a chance Annie noticed Joe running around the table, making the rubbery, black wings swoop up and down. She may have noticed him having a conversation with the bat. She definitely noticed he was introducing the bat to everyone. 

“This is my bat. His name is Joey.”

Annie looked at me.  “His bat? Mom? Did I just lose my bat?”

I merely raised my eyebrow at her. “Well…”

Both of us watched Joey-the-boy pretend to feed Joey-the-bat some of his apple.

“Mom! Did you know my bat is a fruit bat?” Joe smiled contentedly.

Joe continued to play with his bat all through dinner and afterward, as I was getting the coffee pot set up for the morning, I looked down to see this:

“He broke his wing and I fixed it, and he’s sleeping now. See? I covered him so he’ll stay warm.”

Well, okay then.

The family gathered on the couches to watch Mountain Men (a favorite show), and a sleepy little Joey with drooping eyelids curled up between Mary and Annie. There are few things that pull at my heart-strings like a sleepy little one. I would have scooped him up and snuggled him to sleep, but his oldest sister was closer. “Annie, look at Joe,” I whispered.

She extended a hand and stroked his forehead, smiling down at him as his eyes began to close. He was almost out. Then, eyes still closed, he extended his hand and in a quiet voice warned her,

“Don’t. Touch. My Bat.”

So, Annie, have you lost your bat? 

Yes. Yes, you have.