“No, Silly.” Esther playfully swatted at Pearls hand. “He’s forced to stand there and wait for the dog to do his thing. He can’t just run around and get away from us.”
	Pearl grinned with understanding. “Want to play with the walkie talkies and test out the range? You know I’ve been dying for an excuse.”
	“Why would we need the walkie talkies?” Esther looked at Pearl.
	“Do you know his doggie’s bathroom schedule?” Pearl then looked at her as if she should know better. “I’ll sit at the entrance to the courtyard, you sit at the main entrance. We’ll use the code phrase ‘The shade is in the pines’, ok?”
	“The shade is in the pines.” Esther parroted.
	“Alright, I’m heading to my room. I’ll meet you at the elevator.” Pearl stood up and walked briskly out to the hall.
	Esther made a quick bathroom break, because who knew how long she would be sitting waiting for a doggie with a much younger bladder to go.
	Just then she got a text from Pearl, “Put on a fresh pair of Granny Pannies, you don’t know how long we will wait.”
	“Already on it” , Esther texted back.
	The two met up at the elevator and Pearl handed Esther a walkie talkie. They turned them on and synced up channels. Static was emitting from the speakers.
	Pearl held down the button to talk, “Can you hear me, over.”
	But there was nothing other than the static. They doubled checked their channels.
	“We always have our phones.” Esther tried to cheer up her puzzled friend.
	The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.
	“We’ll rest it out when get to the first floor.” Pearl pushed the button for floor one.
	They found out the further they got from the elevator the better the walkie talkie worked.
	“Remember the phrase”, Pearl reminded. “The Shade is in The Pines. Over.”
	“Got it. Over.” Esther set the walkie talkie in her lap and watched the lobby area. After what felt like several hours, she finally saw him and the dog round the corner to the lobby. Her heart began to race, she began fumbling for the walkie talkie. Finally she managed to get a good hold of it and brought it dramatically up to her face, “Shady Pines! Shady Pines!” Esther shouted excitedly into the walkie talkie, her heart was now pounding so loudly she could faintly hear it.
	John Smith glanced in her direction briefly, shooting her a look that let her know he was questioning her sanity. He did not change his stride or direction, he continued to walk out the front entrance with his dog.