Like I said, this happened a long time ago (try about 27 years ago). I received a call from someone I will call Kay (to protect her real identity) asking if my son Adam (3) had brought home her son's She-ra doll from church. I was surprised she asked me this because Adam was still in the nursery at church and her son was old enough to attend Primary (children's Sunday School) and I couldn't see how they would have even crossed paths. I told her as much and she pointed out that someone had seen Adam with the doll. I told her I would have a look around the house but that I had not seen him with it at all. I did as I had said I would and even checked the toy box quite thoroughly. It was not in our house. She called back, I relayed that we did not have it. A few days later she called again, again I told her that we did not have it in our possession. She was adamant that it must be at my house because Adam was the last one seen with it. I was adamant that we did not have it, that I had never even seen the doll, and that it was highly unlikely that Adam would have gotten into the house without me spotting the stupid doll. She called a third time and at this point I was starting to get really annoyed. How many times did I have to tell her "WE DO NOT HAVE YOUR DOLL!!!!" ? Seriously though, the most the doll cost was maybe five dollars. I felt like going out and buying one just so she would stop harassing me but then she would probably figure that we really did have the doll after all and I was feeling guilty.
It became a bit of a joke with a couple of my friends and they would ask if I had put out an APB on She-ra. It was no longer a joking matter though when the young woman living with us at the time went to Kay's house to babysit her kids. She came home from babysitting and told me that Kay had asked if she had seen the doll at my house. I just about lost it. Did Kay think I was lying about a ridiculous, five dollar doll? We were barely scraping by at the time but I would not steal some little kid's toy just so my child had something to play with. It made me so mad that she would doubt my word. I was steaming and was going to call her and giver her a piece of my mind but my husband talked some sense into me and just told me to let it go so I did the next best thing and called my best friend and
A couple of weeks after this incident, I decided to give the toy box a good clean out in readiness for Christmas. I tipped the entire contents out onto the floor and sorted through the toys, discarding broken/incomplete items. I know you can guess what I found when I tipped everything out. There was She-ra in all her glory lying in amongst a pile of McDonalds toys. I was stumped as to how it got there because I honestly had not seen it come into the house nor had I seen it played with by either of the boys. I knew that I would have to call Kay and eat humble pie. I hated the thought of it and so I did what I always do when there is an unpleasant task at hand... I procrastinated. I figured I would just hand her the doll on Sunday at church and sheepishly grin as I explained how I came across it. I pretty much knew she wouldn't believe me but I had no choice. I even joked with the girl that was living us that she should take the doll to Kay's the next time she was asked to babysit and secretly slip it down behind the sofa.
On Sunday morning I went to get She-ra off the shelf where I had safely put her, out of reach of little fingers when I noticed she was gone. I asked Ian if he had given it to the boys and his answer was no. I then asked the girl living with us if she had seen it and that is when she told me that she had taken it to Kay's when she babysat there earlier in the week and dropped it behind the sofa just like I had suggested.
"I was only joking!" I explained.
"I know" she replied "but I thought it was a great idea so I hid it like you said."
Great...now how was I going to explain that one to Kay. She already thought I was a liar, she would never believe that it was a joke to hide the doll at her house. Keeping true to my habit, I procrastinated telling Kay that she would find the little action figure behind her sofa. A couple of weeks later the phone rang.
"Hi Fionna" (It was Kay)
"Hi Kay."
"I just wanted to call and apologize to you."
"Oh?"
"I found that She-ra doll. It's been here all the time. I found it behind the sofa and I feel badly about it because I was sure that Adam had it... someone had seen him with it....and ...er...anyway I am really, really sorry."
My reply?
"That's okay Kay... apology accepted."
This was said in a most magnanimous tone.
I know, I know, I'm a horrible person but I just couldn't bring myself to confess.
I am wondering now, how long it will take for someone to figure out who Kay is and rat on me.
