A Bizarre Accident

Have you ever wondered what happens in a department store at night after the customers leave? When the lights go down and the security man is snoring away in his office, the manikins come out to play.

First the females unhook themselves and smooth out the wrinkles in their clothes. They straighten each other's shirts and check for loose threads. Then, en mass, they head for the children's department. The babies are already beginning to cry by this time and they are quickly scooped up and soothed. Other females assist the older children in unhooking themselves and stretching out kinks.

In the men's departments, the males are now beginning to awaken. In sportswear, they set aside bats and racks that are welded to the floor so they can walk away. Other males straighten their suits and ties before joining them.

They congregate in the middle of the store now that everyone has been freed from their stands. Someone turns on a radio, not the soft sappy music that is played in the store all day but hard rocking music, songs like Lay Your Hands on Me, Shebop, We Got the Beat, and Boys of Summer and softer rock songs like More Than Words. They dance, pairing up and encouraging the children to dance and sing along. Later on, they race with scooters and bikes or sit quietly and read. Their activities mirror their interests and their interests mirror the outfits they spend their lives in.

And then one night it happened. The customers had been mean and nasty all day. The sales people had bitched and complained behind their backs. And frankly, the manikins were fed up with it. Yes the sales people had to stand on their feet for their four or eight hour shifts but manikins, for the most part, were on their feet 24/7/365. They saw no reason to complain about aching feet, just ignore it. Many of the manikins had lost arms and legs that day and they had just plain had enough.

The lights went down, the security guard took his last walk through, and made his stumbling way to the office. As soon as his snores were heard, the manikins began to make their move. Quicker than usual, they escaped their metal bonds. They met in the center of the store and carefully made their way downstairs. Once there they raided the camping department.

Within an hour, the whole store had been doused with kerosene and they met again in their usual place. As they had spread the kerosene, they had also carefully disconnected the smoke alarms and sprinkler system. Someone turned on the music and they had their tear-free good-byes. They carefully removed the heads from the babies and toddlers so they wouldn't have to face the flames. Then six of them used lighters from the break room to torch the store.

The fire department raced to the store as soon as someone raised the alarm, but they were too late, the whole store was in ashes. Luckily the security guard had escaped before the fire got too bad but he was unconscious from the smoke.

No one ever discovered who had set the fire so it went down on the books as a bizarre accident.

So consider this the next time you go shopping in a department store and be kind to those manikins on the floor.