Vegetable thief

Rosenort is the quintessential quiet prairie town. It is peaceful, with it's wide open spaces and vast stretches of farmland, and overall quite pleasant. The walking path into town (a.k.a. the co-op and credit union) takes me by a lazy river, where ten different kinds of birds call to me with their melodious songs, and happy butterflies play with eachother up and down the bank. A perfect setting for anyone wanting to get away from the rushy-rush pace of the city, a perfect setting for young children to be able to roam and be free without as much worry, the perfect setting for a...crime.

Haven't you ever noticed how many horror movies of our time begin somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Is it wrong for me to have scenes from Pet Cemetery flash through my mind when the neighbours cats scratch at our door, knowing that there is a cemetery plot just down the road from us? Well, this isn't quite as terrifying as some of those movies can be, but nonetheless, we've had a very odd occurence happen right under our noses.

A vegetable thief.

Hudson received a basket of Ikea stuffed toy vegetables from his auntie Laura and uncle Chad for Christmas. We keep them in his room, and have used them often as a distraction for diaper changes. Hudson's lately been in the habit of throwing everything, so we don't sweat it if one or two go missing for a day or two, usually finding them under his change table or dragged over to the bathroom. But two Saturdays ago, when we saying goodbye to some of our city friends who had come for a visit, Tyler noticed something in the grassy area between our house and the neighbours'. It was the cucumber from his vegetable set! We were puzzled, as neither of us could remember taking it out of the house, but didn't make too much of it.

 

But this is where it gets odder. The next occurrence occurred about a week later, this time when we were on a bike ride with Ty's sisters and nieces. We were biking along one of the main roads, and already a couple of minutes from our house when Ty came to a halting stop in the middle of the street. He jumped off his bike, ran halfway down the bank, and came back holding...A LEEK! Yep, the very leek from our baby's vegetable collection! How Ty spotted it among the tall, green grass, or didn't pass it off as just another vegetable tossed  out the car window by some sneaky child, I'll never know.

 There is a vegetable thief among us (as well as another kind of thief - a swimsuit snatcher - but that's really none of my business!). We've put all the clues together, checked the backgrounds of several co-op produce department employees (who may have the strongest motives), asked around for eyewitness, but so far haven't been able to crack the case. If you've seen anything, you know who to call. A stuffed tomato is in it for you if you give any information leading to the perpetrator.