Maraya's Big Dream

Looking Around In the Goodwill

"We're here," said her grandma as she got out of the car.

Maraya got out of the car, too, and held her grandma's hands as they went in together. When they got in to look around, her grandma said, "Okay, babycakes, you can go look at the albums and 45's to see if you can find any good ones you want."

"Okay, grandma," Maraya told her as she walked away. Looking at the albums and 45's was Maraya's favorite thing to look at Goodwill because she collects them at home now. When she got to the shelf where the albums and 45's were stored, she looked at all of them to see if they were any good ones that she wanted to buy.

Meanwhile, a woman with wavy, bleach blonde hair came to where Maraya was looking at the albums and 45's and she looked very familiar. She recognized her, greeted her, and asked Maraya if she could look at the albums and 45's with her. "Hi, Maraya. Can I look at the albums and 45's with you?"

But Maraya didn't hear her asking. She was much too busy looking at the albums and 45's when suddenly, the woman crouched down and asked, "Do you recognize my voice?"

That caused Maraya to turn around and see that her old bus driver, Ms. Carolyn, was with her.

Maraya felt excited as she got up to hug her. "Ms. Carolyn!"

Ms. Carolyn laughed.

"What are you doing here, Ms. Carolyn?" Maraya questioned.

"I'm here to look at the albums and 45's with you," she answered. "Do you mind if I can look at the albums and 45's with you?"

"Not at all," replied Maraya. "but first, let's go find my grandma and let her know that you're here with me."

"Okay," said Ms. Carolyn. "Where do you think she's at?"

"I don't know," she told Ms. Carolyn. "Let's look all over the Goodwill and find her."

Maraya and Ms. Carolyn started to look all over the Goodwill until they realized that she was looking at the clothes and shoes. "Hey, grandma, look who's with me."

"Hello!" greeted Ms. Carolyn.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Carolyn," her grandma greeted back. "Nice to see you again."

"Same here," she said.

"Hey, grandma, can you take a picture of me and Ms. Carolyn on my phone?" asked Maraya. "I want to send it to Facebook and tell all my friends that I saw her."

"All right," her grandma responded. "Then let's do it."

They all walked to where the albums and 45's were and Maraya's grandma took a picture of Maraya and Ms. Carolyn with Maraya's phone. "Okay, you're all good. You and Carolyn can look at the albums and 45's now while I look at the shoes and clothes."

"Okay," Maraya and Ms. Carolyn told her in unison.

They both crouched down to look at the albums and 45's together. Maraya thought it was better to look at the albums and 45's with a buddy - like Ms. Carolyn. All of a sudden, Maraya found an albums she liked, and so did Ms. Carolyn.

"I like this album I found, Ms. Carolyn," she told her. "How about you?"

"Yeah, I did," answered Ms. Carolyn. "But since I already have like over 500 albums, I can give it to you."

"All right," Maraya said.

After Ms. Carolyn looked at both of the records that were in the sleeves, Maraya's grandma came to both of them. "Hi, ladies, did you find any albums you liked?"

"Yeah," she responded. "This one."

"And this one," Ms. Carolyn replied, showing the album that she found.

They both give the two albums to Maraya's grandma. "Okay, then. Let me pay them for you and then we'll leave."

After Maraya's grandma paid for the albums, she asked Ms. Carolyn a question. "Hey, Carolyn, would you like to hang out with us for a while at my house?"

"Sure," she replied. "Just let me go outside and tell Mr. Danny that I'll be hanging out with you and that you'll be taking me back home, too."

When Ms. Carolyn left, her grandma told Maraya, "Come on, Mimi. Let's go meet her outside where the Forerunner is."

"Okay," said Maraya again.

They both got out of the Goodwill with the bag that had Maraya's albums in it and once Ms. Carolyn was ready, they all drove out to go somewhere else.