Today, I was at Barnes and Noble perusing the magazines when a wide eyed little girl straight out of central casting, blonde pigtails and maryjanes, , came up to me.
“Excuse me,” she said, her lower lip quivering ever so slightly. “Do you like to, um…do you like to read books to your kids?”
She then held up a very slim book. Her blue eyes peeked over the top. “My daddy wrote this. Would you like to buy it?”
I looked around for cameras. “What?”
“He’s right over there. With my grandpa. Come with me. I’ll show you!”
She took my hand and pulled me towards two men sitting behind a sad card table. You know the kind. A tower of books and a writer looking completely out of place.
I looked at the man and shook my head. “You sly dog. Using your kid as bait to sell your books.”
He laughed. “Hey, it was her idea.”
The little girl laughed and dropped the urchin facade. “I told him it would work!” and then she skipped away to find more customers.
Respect, kid. You got skills.
And I really need to get an urchin.
Nikki Nelson-Hicks 
BTW, when I left, there were five people in line at that guy’s table. FIVE. The kid has skills.
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