The Story of Tia /first draft

 We used to frequent a good Chinese buffet; great choices, consistent ownership and service at the time, comfortable atmosphere. At the entryway was the proverbial giant fish tank filled with what you expect tanks to contain.

One evening we sat in a booth next to a man obviously waiting for his wife to complete her shift. He had the cutest little girl with him, about four years old. She wore a plaid dress with an oversized white collar. She wanted coins for the gum machine and he said, "no, you have to eat a piece of chicken first." She hopped into the booth, took a bite to satisfy him, then took a quarter to the gumball machine. In the next few minutes, she stopped at our seat, with gum juice running down her face--pink and blue and too large for her little mouth. She chewed a bit, examining our plates. Then she pointed to the fish tank and reported about one of the fish, floating at the top of the foam. "That one is taking a nap," she announced to us and anyone else who was listening. We just smiled; trying not to laugh. Then she sat in the chair between her dad's booth and ours and showed us a three-corner tear in the plaid skirt of her dress. I asked her how the tear (and obvious cut) had happened. She confided that she tore it at school and then used the scissors to "straighten it out." 

I then asked, "Will you be in trouble with your mother for cutting your dress?"

"Oh, no! was her quick response. "My mother loves me very much and I won't be in trouble because the dress got a tear in it. In that instant, we must have bonded because her next action and remark caught us a little off guard. She raised up her dress, showed  the white tights underneath the little plaid dress with the big white collar where the seam was tearing from its stitching along the panty line. She said, "I won't be in trouble for this either because I didn't make the hole. Immediately, her father swooped her up and stated, "Come on. Mother is not finished working and we are going home."

Our meal was just fine. The experience with this little girl, who had the world by the tail, was the highlight of supper. The meeting with this little girl, who was yet unnamed, is still in the back of my memories and I smile when I recall it to the mind in my heart. Part II is coming.

The next week, by chance, we were at this Chinese restaurant. This same dad and little girl were there. She had on a name tag, "Tia." Her school had been to the local space attraction, and she was still wearing the name tag. She greeted us enthusiastically, not really remembering us. I looked down and said, "we have finished supper and are going home. It was nice to see you again, Tia." 

Aghast, and with very wide eyes, asked, "How did you know my name?"

"They" tell little kids not to talk to strangers. "They" teach kids about "stranger danger," as children should be instructed. But these two encounters with this little girl were such a gift to me--innocent, bright and shiny: with the world by the tail.