I Took Something That Wasn’t Mine
Let me tell you about the time I took something that wasn’t mine—but thought it should be mine—and I lied about it too. 😬
I was about 9 years old. School was the place to be in the fall at that age. Back then, we had those individual desks where your books and stuff went underneath the seat. I don’t remember how I came to notice it, but across the row from me was another girl’s desk. I don’t recall anything about her now, except that she hadn’t been at school for a long while. How long? Not sure. Could’ve been days, maybe a couple of weeks.
Anyway, there was this pretty little billfold hangin’ out just a bit from under her desk. I’d admired it every school day for a while. I’m not sure what possessed me or how I even pulled it off, but one day… I took it home.
I showed it to Mom when I got home, admiring how pretty it was. She looked at me and said, “Where did you get this?”
I told her a girl at school gave it to me.
She opened it up—which I hadn’t done—and sure enough, there was money in it.
She said, “Now, nobody would give you this and leave their money in it.”
I don’t remember exactly what happened next—Mom might’ve called the school, I really don’t know. But later that evening? I was in a whole lotta trouble, and there was no getting out of it.
Dad went and made a paddle. Drilled holes in it. And I got that paddle that night—not in a good way. Whacks for stealing, whacks for lying… and they weren’t light or playful whacks either.
The next morning, I was made to take the billfold back to school and quietly put it back in the girl’s desk.
From that day on, I never admired another thing that belonged to another kid at school. I never stole another thing. And I never told a lie like that again.
Because let me tell you—those two things right there?
They’ll get you a beating.
It won’t be pretty, and it sure won’t be fun.
Like what you’re reading? You can support these porch stories here:
If you liked this one, you might wanna catch the next. Drop your email to get it.
