Filched Penny Balloons

Slice 7 of 31

Thanks to Stacey and Ruth for Hosting

Slice of Life Challenge 2013

@ the Two Writing Teachers

Join the party for a slice or two or three or four and then tell 2 friends!

So they'll tell 2 friends and they'll tell two friends

and so on!

Today's slice...inspired by more stories from the baby book...

filched -past participle, past tense of filch

Verb Pilfer or steal (something, esp. a thing of small value) in a casual way. One glorious kindergarten morning in mid May 1976, my mom took my brother (4 years old) and me (5 years old) into the Aid Drugstore to purchase a few things she needed.  She allowed my brother and me to browse the toy section of the store while she watched and waited for the prescriptions over near the corner of the store.  After browsing awhile, we ran over to her and begged for balloons.  She authoritatively denied our request for the balloons and reminded us that we wouldn't be going home with them.  Little did she know, we had a different plan in mind.  We had filched the penny balloons... According to the newspaper here's how the scene went down...

When mother discovered the penny balloons in the the girl's pocket at home (as told by little brother-the snitch) she marched the two children back to the store with the loot (5 loose balloons).

"Reprimand them!" she emphatically demanded of the pharmacist/owner of the store...as an aside here this was a 200 pound 6 foot tall man who was growing a snow white beard to celebrate the bi-centennial of our nation!  (With a belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly)-remind you of anyone?

So he laid it on..."stealing is wrong, we don't take things that don't belong to us, thieves go to jail, blah, blah, blah...and while you're waiting for the police to come, you'll have to sit on those tall stools over there.  Then they'll..."

"We'll never do it again," said sis, tears rolling down her cheeks...meanwhile the little brother displayed no emotion whatsoever...

Turning to her brother, sis said, "They could put us in jail!"

Brother said, looking rather wise, "No, I know they won't!  Santa Claus would never call the police."