She tells her father that he always gives up, that she bets he “didn’t even go out looking for my mama when she left. Opal is resistant to stopping and angry at her father for suggesting they do so. As Opal searches for Winn-Dixie she compiles a list of ten things she knows about him, so that she can put it on missing posters all over the neighborhood.Įventually, the preacher tells Opal that it is time to stop their search. Opal worries that Winn-Dixie has been hit by a car, and the preacher tells her that they cannot worry about what might have happened, that instead, they must keep looking. They look all over town, through downtown, into the trailer park, and along the highway to no avail. The preacher and Opal leave the party to look for Winn-Dixie. Gloria hands Opal a flashlight and tells her that she can’t love the things that leave, so she must “love what you got while you got it” (158). She is close to tears when the Dewberry brothers arrive, and although she doesn’t want to say hello, Gloria Dump makes her greet them. She runs out into the yard but can’t find him. In the kitchen, spirits are still high until Opal realizes that she has forgotten Winn-Dixie in the rain. On her way into the house, she calls for Otis to follow.
Amanda helps Miss Franny Block into Gloria’s house and Opal runs back out to help Gloria walk in as well. The preacher and Opal save the sandwiches and the punch while Sweetie Pie runs around to save her pictures. On Gloria’s prompting, the preacher blesses the party and thanks God for friendship. Before he can run away, she introduces him to the preacher. When Otis arrives, he is nervous about the party and tarries on the front porch, but Opal convinces him to enter. The preacher comes dressed up and distributes compliments, and Amanda Wilkinson arrives with her hair curled. Sweetie Pie arrives with her mother and a collection of pictures of dogs, which she hangs on the trees with tape. Miss Franny Block comes dressed up in a green dress and brings a large bowl of Littmus Lozenges. On the day of, the guests arrive one by one. They decorate the yard by hanging crepe paper and putting out candles, which turns the yard “into a fairyland” (144). The afternoon before, she and Gloria make egg-salad sandwiches, which they de-crust and cut into triangles, and a punch which they serve in a large bowl.
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