Mitch fell asleep for a long time, feeling the first sense of comfort he had felt since this whole mess had happened to him. At last, he was stirred awake as the vehicle he was riding in stopped suddenly. He listened intently, his vision obscured, and moments later he heard keys jingle and the plastic grocery bag he was in was picked up. He heard footsteps on cement, a quick jolt up some stairs, and then keys clicking in a lock and a door opening. The door slammed and was locked again, and at last Mitch was removed from the plastic bag.
To his utter relief and astonishment, he found himself looking at a gorgeous young redhead with black-rimmed glasses and freckles on his cheeks, not much older than himself. Well, his normal self. “Hey there, fella!” she said to Mitch in a very enthusiastic way, “The old woman was right about you. Doesn’t look like you’ve got any big tears or anything. We’ll just get you all cleaned up and then we’ll see about blowing you up. Wow, you’re anatomically correct! Heh. I hope you hold air. I want to try you out.” Mitch would have grinned in pure ecstasy if he could have. Somebody was going to take good care of him, it seemed. A cute somebody. Not quite his Karissa, but Mitch liked her anyway.
The young girl took Mitch to her bathroom, where she proceeded to rinse every inch of him with a showerhead. Warm water touched his rubbery skin and he felt fresh and clean when it was all done. A cotton towel dried him off and Mitch the inflatable donkey was as good as new! Now if he could just be turned back into a living thing and made human again, but one step at a time. He was safe and sound, for the moment.