Letter: Shopping with grandpa, chapter two

In our last episode of ‘Goodwill Toys Gone Bad!’, grandpa and his granddaughter had left readers wondering if Mini Mouse would escape the clutches of the Evil Octopod, or whether the dinosaur escapees from Jurassic Park II would get to her first.

Only the lone Power Ranger stood in their way.

Unfortunately, upon their return to the store this week, grandpa and granddaughter found all characters in last week’s cliff-hanger were not where they’d last been seen, acting out their terrible drama.

Mini Mouse, Evil Octopod, Jurassic Park II dinosaurs all gone. Power Ranger too.

Evidently some mother had bought them all thinking perhaps they were a set so, how that story turned out will forever be unknown.

This week however, grandpa and his granddaughter watched spellbound as Santa Claus faded back for a desperation pass as the seconds ticked down to zero.

The huge defensive linemen were doing as they are taught: ‘if you can’t get to the quarterback, get your hands up.’

It was to be a last gasp heave to the other side of the toy aisle where an endzone had hastily been cleared by no less than two bulldozers, while a considerable jumble of stuffed dolls and other creatures appeared to stand in rather haphazard fashion on their respective sidelines, all smiling in ‘buy-me’ anticipation.

Had Claus even heard the play from the sidelines given he didn’t have his helmet on with the receivers installed?

Would Santa’s reindeer receivers get open in the endzone on the opposite aisle shelf?

Could he even chuck the leather that far, past the imposing behemoths and across no less than three feet of polished tile?

Stay tuned for another thrilling finish to ‘Goodwill Toys Gone Bad’.