The pen wasn’t worth anything, but Maddie pocketed it anyway. It wasn’t about the pen. It was about the rush. Stepping so far outside of her exhausted reality, that she could feel the hair on the back of her arms standing at attention.
Sometimes Maddie believed, stealing was the only thing that made her life worth living.
Mindlessly whisking her toddling two year old into the car seat, Maddie caught a glimpse of something sparkly dangling from her daughters tightly clenched fist. A necklace pilfered from the display adjacent the cash register, where Maddie herself had pocketed the pen.
Written for Carrot Ranch’s Flash Fiction Challenge Prompt: Exhausted, utilizing Mind Loves Misery Menagerie’s First Line Friday Prompt: The pen wasn’t worth anything, but Maddie pocketed it anyway.
Thru Violet's Lentz 
And the perfect picture…
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I know, right? the little girl in that picture definitely has the up to something smile going on…
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The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, does it?
Good one.
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And we wonder where they learn these things.. Thanks tnkerr for stopping in.
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She gets it from her mama…haha
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You bet she did. And i think the saddest thing is, it took her baby stealing something to get her attention…
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A lesson learned…better late than never!
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This harried mom brings back memories of herding little ones. Nothing like marching right back into the store and having the child hand the cashier the item. That’ll wipe that darling smile off her face. Regrettably, children imitate us in things both big and small.
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How can she in good conscience reprove her properly, when they daughter has watched her do the exact same thing. I know she should, but?
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Bringing up Baby, hey. Nice one, well told. 🙂
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And evidently not very awfully interested in baby until she makes this discovery.. sad, but i fear more than likely could be true,
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Yea. Life is not perfect. 🙂
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Like mother, like daughter! Amazing tiny tale☺️
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A thought provoking story
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Indeed. much to think about.
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Children emulate adults.
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One often wonders where little ones learn things – forgetting to look at or listen to the examples they set.
I would be concerned with driving while being exhausted too. Lag reaction time and all that.
Hopefully both characters wake up in time to make a difference in the future.
(PS Hoping your ‘new’ adventure is beginning smoothly.)
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Looks like some stolen genes going on, there!
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hahaha there sure are!
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Sometimes life becomes so mundane that we need these little distractions to make it seem worthwhile. An aura of excitement to brighten our day. Nice story Violet.
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It’s ok, Maddie-if you don’t want to deal with your stuff now-you’ll get the chance in 15 years or so when you take your daughter for therapy…
🙂
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How cool. At first like, yeah, she’s bad, but the worst thing is what if she gets caught for lifting these trifles. But that baby she was so mindless of- now there’s a problem to resolve for sure and not an easy one to come out of. But hey, your 99 words are up, you don’t have to resolve the situation, just know it was well presented.
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Wow! Talk about setting good example for children!
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I loved the twist and surprise ending.
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We teach them, do we not? Now how to unteach this one!! Mama has some self-work to do.
What a perfect picture you chose!
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Like mother like daughter. Quite a team in the making!
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Oh, oh! Like mother like daughter, unfortunately.
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Great story. The image reminded me of one of my daughters . She was about that age when she took a china candlestick from a shop. She was in her buggy, so I didn’t notice at first. Luckily she didn’t break it and I was able to return it to the shopkeeper who laughed and said she was too little to know any better. Thirteen years later it was a different story… but she learnt her lesson.
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They are always watching, picking up cues for adults. I like this.Thanks.
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Like mother like daughter😄
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Little eyes catch every detail even if the shopowner misses them. I really like the word, pilfered, too as your choice of title.
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So many find excitement in stealing and young ones learn quickly …
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