¹     "Charleston, Illinois?" thought the hat with surprise. "Now what? Here I thought I had a chance to be back on the shore again, and I'm in the middle of some little town in the Midwest! How will I ever see Keith again?" The hat lay moping on the bed where the man had put him. The man and his wife had left the room. "Probably to get something to eat," the hat grunted. "No one ever thinks about hungry hats."
 
²     After a couple of hours, the hat heard the click of the doorknob opening. "I can't believe you found it!" he heard a little boy say. "Could it be Douglas?" the hat thought. It sounded like him.
 
³     "Yes, Douglas," the man said. "It was stuck under a pile of leaves in the yard. We forgot all about it the day you sprained your ankle."
 
⁴     It was Douglas! Douglas came to the bed and picked up the hat. Cradling it in his hands, he said, "I'm so sorry, hat. My ankle really hurt so they took me to the emergency room at the hospital. Then we went home. I had to stay off my feet for about two weeks and use crutches. By that time, I had forgotten about you. Some friend I am! But why am I talking to you? You can't understand me."
 
⁵     The hat wanted to nod its bill or do something so the boy would know he really did understand him. But soon, he was atop the boy's head with a bird's eye view.
 
⁶     "Let's go, Grandpa!" Douglas said.
 
⁷     They grabbed a picnic basket and headed to the car. They drove along Illinois Highway 130 until they reached a picnic area overlooking Lake Charleston. Douglas felt excitement as he unbuckled his seat belt and tumbled out of the car.
 
⁸     "Uncle Keith!" Douglas cried as he ran toward a tall, dark-haired man.
 
⁹     "Hey, bud!" Keith replied, sweeping Douglas up in a big bear hug. "Sorry I missed Thanksgiving. You know Aunt Beth and I were celebrating our anniversary with a cruise. However, we wouldn't miss our annual family reunion for anything!

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