When Babies Hide In The Shopping Bag

Across the department store is a simple looking shopping bag hanging on a woman’s arm. It’s bright red, white letters encouraging more shopping, more dreaming to make a new life through objects. After all, every item in the store is a possibility. A piece of inspiration, something useful, something to bring a different feeling to a space.

It’s a curious bag, hanging on someone’s arm, not out of place at first glance. On second glance, however, everything seems different. The bag holds a weight that shifts back and forth. A cat? A robot? An endless supply of peanuts?

The woman carrying it smiles inside. A giggle is heard and the bag shakes. They are standing in the toy aisle so perhaps it could be a mechanical doll. They laugh, they cry, they make messes for the doll owner to fix. Perhaps there is a little girl or boy at home waiting for such a special gift. On closer inspection, that could not be the case. There would be no reason for an adult to look at an item for sale with such caring.

Settling the bag on the floor as the woman reaches for a toy higher up on the shelf. It is a set of play tools in a little plastic tool box. The bag wiggles again, prompting a look inside. “Hello?”

It is not a doll after all. Blue eyes blink up while the toy hammer clutched in her hands continues to hammer in imaginary nails. She looks back down, considering her invisible project before her mother comes and greets her again. A little smile, bright eyes. A child full of imagination. Her shirt declares she believes in unicorns. It’s easy to know.

After all, she is building her own little world in the curious red bag with the big bold letters.