You look on your google maps, searching for the nearest restaurant or store. That’s when you notice that two mattress firms are on the same street. That’s how it started for me: out of curiosity, a child with a weird thought process, thinking something fishy was happening in her town.

I went to the internet the moment my brain was convinced that something was happening between these strangely close stores. Watching tons of videos, I realized the reason they are so close together is plain and simple: they are smuggling goods between each other. 

My Criminal Minds brain kicked in. I knew that I had to do something for the people. The first thing I did was call my sister. I went through my whole thought process just for her to call me crazy. I don’t think it is just me, but as siblings, when you are doubted, you get super upset. I went into the craft room and grabbed my mother’s whiteboard and computer. 

I searched for the map of Texarkana, plotting points of the mattress firm locations on the white board desperate to prove my theory. Slowly, I plotted all the points, stepping back to admire my hard work. In my mind, I thought, “Now why do we have two mattress firms on each side of the street?” After hours of explaining, my sister still did not believe me, so I then searched on Google for Dallas mattress firm locations.

For reference, in our town of Texarkana, Texas, with a population of around 36,000, we have close to eight mattress firms, not counting furniture stores that sell mattresses. You’re telling me we do not have a Panda Express, but we have that many mattress stores? Who even needs that many mattresses? No one.

The bigger area gave me more information, the mattress firms appeared to make a triangle, or I was desperate to find proof. Never mind that — I believed my theory so much that I went to my mother. After the whole spill I gave my sister, with the extra information I gathered, she said “Gracie it is not true, forget about it.”

For the sake of being a scared 9-year-old girl, I said, “yes ma’am,” and walked away. Yet, I never stopped believing. No matter what others say, as improbable as it sounds I will never forget about the mattress firm theory.

Still, to this day, I will look at google maps every once in a while and see just how many more mattress firms have popped up. In a way, it makes me feel like a detective checking on an open case but way less serious. 

The more research I do, the more sneaky and shocking the information seems to be. You have to be careful with what you let go underneath your nose. It begins with mattress firms, but what is really happening behind the scenes?