Free Frankie in Paris by Shauna McGuiness

problem for me of late.
    “How about some beer?”   She opened the bag enough for me to see two
glass bottles floating around in a pile of personal items.   Did she
carry that stuff everywhere?   I
didn’t want a beer, but the sunglasses in there were pretty cute.   I wondered if I should make an offer on them.
    Walking to the door seemed safer, so I said, “I
better find my grandmother, or she’ll wonder what is taking me so long.”
    “Right?   She might think you’re doing something naughty .”   She laughed.   At me, I was sure.   How had I thought her shy?   I left her preening in the mirror and exited
the ladies room.  
    Lulu was not there waiting for me.  
    I tried not to panic, but the place had seven
hundred rooms and over two thousand acres of property and what if I can’t find her ?    What would I tell my family? She was so small and defenseless.   What if someone had taken her?   Oh my
God !
    Running down the enormous open hallway, looking
left and right,   I saw some smallish
people—but they were all children.   Damn,
damn, damn!   Why hadn’t she been waiting where I told her to be?
    I found myself standing in the Hall of Mirrors,
which was really just that:   a hall of
mirrors.   There were opulent chandeliers
dripping from above, and colorful artwork adorned the ceiling.   All I could see was the reflection of my
face:   wild, frightened eyes seated in a
pale oval.  
    Overwhelmed with chaotic emotion, my old
friend, Telekinesis, took hold of the wheel, and I was nothing more than a
passenger:   the chandeliers began to sway
as if under the influence of one of our California
earthquakes.   As I passed two of the
mirrors, spider web cracks bloomed from the center outward.   The people closest to me looked around in
panic.   I stopped where I was standing
and took deep breaths, trying to calm down enough that my cerebrum could stop
itself from getting me into terrible trouble.
    There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people
milling around, the reflections multiplying the number.   I saw dozens of Japanese tourists and a crazy
looking twenty-year-old American with greasy bangs and red, red lips several
times.  
    Not one vertically challenged woman with white
hair and dark glasses.      
    Crap!
    A docent and two security guards had arrived at
the broken mirrors, looking around for clues as to what had happened.   I had to get away from there, fast!
    Then I remembered what my grandfather had
always told me when I was a little girl.   “If you get lost, don’t go wandering around.   Stay put.”   Good advice.   Better to have at
least one half of a separated pair remaining stationary than two people running
away from each other for who knows how long?
    I returned to the restroom, and there she was,
holding a paper cup and laughing with the Canadian elder.   The dope peddler was there, too.    One side of her mouth lifted noticeably into
a smirk when she caught view of my worried, crazed appearance.    
    Perspiration was gathering pretty much
everywhere, and my lips felt dry.
    “Where in the world were you ?”   my grandmother
demanded.
    “I couldn’t find you—"
    “Couldn’t find me?   I was right here.   Well, most of the time.   Ginny here offered me some of her water.   She carries an extra cup with her.   Isn’t that brilliant?”
    Spork-Ginny beamed at me and leaned on her
cane.
    “You should be careful, Frank,” her
granddaughter said, pronouncing my name like the French currency and
emphasizing the ending consonant.   "There are all kinds of un-savory types in places like this?”  
    I wanted to punch her in her too-freckled face.
    ***
    When it was time to return to the hotel, I
could tell that Lulu would have preferred to remain at the palace. Forever,
probably.   I helped her up the steps onto
the bus, and we sat in silence for the duration of the return trip.      
    Her eyes closed, and she began to breathe deep,
even