The Adventures of Home Depot GirlEpisode XXXVYZ: Open Sesame

HDG may not have many outstanding superpowers, but yesterday she did encounter a young man who discovered supernatural abilities of his own. HDG was minding her own business (and not the business’s business, oops) while organizing a file cabinet drawer of owner’s manuals for display models. (It’s a kind of manual graveyard, complete with literally moldering booklets and amputated spare parts, although no one leaves flowers. Not on purpose, anyway. Sometimes, though, a few blooms break off from the potted mums and get trampled to the concrete nearby.)

HDG looked up when she heard the command, in the confident voice of a five-year-old boy, “Open sesame!” There he was, standing directly before the automatic door behind HDG, arms half-raised in a stance of power, but not quite close enough to trigger the door’s sensor. He tried his command again, arms a little higher, channeling the sorcerer’s apprentice. HDG couldn’t help herself. She stepped casually backward into the sensor’s range, triggering the door to open. The kid was delighted. He seemed to genuinely believe that he had developed the power to open doors using speech alone. He skipped back to his mom to report his success, grinning and giggling. To HDG’s disappointment (but with no apparent decrease in the kid’s enthusiasm), Mom was oblivious to her son’s recent magical achievement. (In her defense, I wonder just how many other doors Little Merlin had verbally opened since breakfast.)

Not to be deflated, the kid returned to the door, this time demanding, “Close sesame!” Sadly, even HDG couldn’t help him with this one. He was on his own. All HDG could do was stand still. But his incantation served him well, and the door obediently slid shut. He continued to practice until his mom wandered off in search of some mums that were still connected to their roots.

It all goes to show that there really is magic out there in the everyday world, even in the mundane environment of a big box store, if only you are willing to notice it. That kid will never know how much HDG, an unknown bystander waging constant battle against the forces of boredom, appreciated his magic that day.