Finders Keepers - a child's story
My parents are divorced. They got divorced when I was only two and my brother was three. I don’t really remember them being together. Now we live with mom and visit dad. On one of my dad’s weekend visit, I went with my dad and my brother to the video store to get a movie. While my dad looked around, my brother and I went to the kids’ area and played. I found a stuffed dog on one of the chairs. There were no other stuffed animals there. Just chairs, a Lego table and Legos. I picked it up. It was cute. It was soft. I carried it around for a while.
My dad called us over because it was time to go. He saw the stuffed dog. “Where did you get that?” He asked. I told him that I had found it in the kid area on a chair. I asked him if I could keep it. He looked for a price tag and saw that it was a little worn around the ears. He paid for the movie and we walked to the door. I asked again if I could keep it. I had started to really like the dog. It’s eyes almost looked real. We got outside and dad said that if the person that owned it didn’t care enough about it to keep it with him and just left it in a store, then it was “finders keepers”. I asked him what that was. He said “finders keepers losers weepers. If you don’t take care of you stuff, you deserve to lose it. You can cry all you want but if you had taken care of it, then you wouldn’t have a problem.” I was so happy. I had gotten this great stuffed dog with the real looking eyes and no one was mad!
When I went back home, I took the stuffed dog “Bob” with me. Mom said that it was a cute dog. She didn’t ask where I got it but my brother told her that I had found it at the video store. Mom stopped and turned around. “Dad didn’t buy it for you?” she asked. I said no, I had found it in a chair. She asked if we had looked around to see if it belonged to anyone, or had asked someone who worked there if it belonged to anyone. Uncomfortable, I said “No. But I told dad, and he said ‘finders keepers’”. “Oh,” was the only thing my mom said. At first, I started to feel bad, but I loved Bob, he was so soft, and he looked at me with those real eyes like he was so glad that I had found him. I stopped feeling bad pretty quick.
The next weekend, my mom, my brother and I went to the zoo. Before we started looking at the animals, we went into the gift shop. There was so much cool animal stuff. My brother and I ran around looking at everything, and playing with some of the toys. We went to the stuffed animals and I found a great stuffed bear. It was so cute, cuddly and soft. My mom bought it for me and she bought some animal toys for my brother. I hugged that bear so hard and loved it right away.
When we got out of the gift store we all went to the bathroom. We all came out of the stalls, washed our hands and left. My brother was playing with his toys as we went towards the monkeys. I suddenly realized that I had left my bear in the stall sitting on the toilet paper holder. I told my mom and we all raced back to the bathroom. We had only been gone for a couple of minutes, so we knew it would be there. I ran in, and slammed the stall door open. The bear was gone. I yelled that it was gone, and we spent a long time running around looking in the trashcan and into strollers and at people’s hands to see who had it.
I was crying by the time we sat down on the brick wall by the bathroom. My bear was gone. I felt sick. My mom helped me into her lap, as my brother huffed and puffed about people who steal stuff from little kids.
“Do you mean like at the video store?” my mom said quietly.
I stopped breathing for a minute and I think my brother did too. I had cared about my bear. I didn’t have it very long, but I loved it. I had picked it out of all the others as the one that I wanted to take home with me. And someone had taken it. All because I wanted to wash my hands before touching my bear and the water had been so cold and the hand dryer took forever to dry my hands. I had forgotten about my bear for maybe ten seconds and someone took it.
That’s when I realized that some kid had picked out Bob the dog just like I had picked out my bear. Out of all the other dogs, that kid had chosen that one to take home and rub its ears and love it. And maybe that kid had been playing with the Lego and had put the dog in the chair so that it could be like a friend or a brother to play Legos with. And maybe the mom or dad had made them hurry or someone had made that kid think of something else for a couple of seconds and that kid had forgotten Bob. Finders keepers stinks, I thought. Finders keepers is a way for people to keep stuff that doesn’t belong to them. I felt so bad that I cried even harder.
I didn’t get another bear and I didn’t have a very good time at the zoo that day. I really didn’t feel better until I went back over to my dad’s house the next weekend. We went to the video store again to get a movie. I took Bob. I went up to someone who worked there.
“Last time I was in here, I found this.” I held out Bob to the lady who took it from me, “it was over there.” I said as I pointed to the kids’ area.
“Oh! You know what? There was a little girl and her dad in here last week asking about this dog! They left their name and number just in case. She is going to be so happy! What a nice thing to do! Thank you.” She said with a big smile on her face.
I felt much better. Bob was going home.
My parents are divorced. They got divorced when I was only two and my brother was three. I don’t really remember them being together. Now we live with mom and visit dad. On one of my dad’s weekend visit, I went with my dad and my brother to the video store to get a movie. While my dad looked around, my brother and I went to the kids’ area and played. I found a stuffed dog on one of the chairs. There were no other stuffed animals there. Just chairs, a Lego table and Legos. I picked it up. It was cute. It was soft. I carried it around for a while.
My dad called us over because it was time to go. He saw the stuffed dog. “Where did you get that?” He asked. I told him that I had found it in the kid area on a chair. I asked him if I could keep it. He looked for a price tag and saw that it was a little worn around the ears. He paid for the movie and we walked to the door. I asked again if I could keep it. I had started to really like the dog. It’s eyes almost looked real. We got outside and dad said that if the person that owned it didn’t care enough about it to keep it with him and just left it in a store, then it was “finders keepers”. I asked him what that was. He said “finders keepers losers weepers. If you don’t take care of you stuff, you deserve to lose it. You can cry all you want but if you had taken care of it, then you wouldn’t have a problem.” I was so happy. I had gotten this great stuffed dog with the real looking eyes and no one was mad!
When I went back home, I took the stuffed dog “Bob” with me. Mom said that it was a cute dog. She didn’t ask where I got it but my brother told her that I had found it at the video store. Mom stopped and turned around. “Dad didn’t buy it for you?” she asked. I said no, I had found it in a chair. She asked if we had looked around to see if it belonged to anyone, or had asked someone who worked there if it belonged to anyone. Uncomfortable, I said “No. But I told dad, and he said ‘finders keepers’”. “Oh,” was the only thing my mom said. At first, I started to feel bad, but I loved Bob, he was so soft, and he looked at me with those real eyes like he was so glad that I had found him. I stopped feeling bad pretty quick.
The next weekend, my mom, my brother and I went to the zoo. Before we started looking at the animals, we went into the gift shop. There was so much cool animal stuff. My brother and I ran around looking at everything, and playing with some of the toys. We went to the stuffed animals and I found a great stuffed bear. It was so cute, cuddly and soft. My mom bought it for me and she bought some animal toys for my brother. I hugged that bear so hard and loved it right away.
When we got out of the gift store we all went to the bathroom. We all came out of the stalls, washed our hands and left. My brother was playing with his toys as we went towards the monkeys. I suddenly realized that I had left my bear in the stall sitting on the toilet paper holder. I told my mom and we all raced back to the bathroom. We had only been gone for a couple of minutes, so we knew it would be there. I ran in, and slammed the stall door open. The bear was gone. I yelled that it was gone, and we spent a long time running around looking in the trashcan and into strollers and at people’s hands to see who had it.
I was crying by the time we sat down on the brick wall by the bathroom. My bear was gone. I felt sick. My mom helped me into her lap, as my brother huffed and puffed about people who steal stuff from little kids.
“Do you mean like at the video store?” my mom said quietly.
I stopped breathing for a minute and I think my brother did too. I had cared about my bear. I didn’t have it very long, but I loved it. I had picked it out of all the others as the one that I wanted to take home with me. And someone had taken it. All because I wanted to wash my hands before touching my bear and the water had been so cold and the hand dryer took forever to dry my hands. I had forgotten about my bear for maybe ten seconds and someone took it.
That’s when I realized that some kid had picked out Bob the dog just like I had picked out my bear. Out of all the other dogs, that kid had chosen that one to take home and rub its ears and love it. And maybe that kid had been playing with the Lego and had put the dog in the chair so that it could be like a friend or a brother to play Legos with. And maybe the mom or dad had made them hurry or someone had made that kid think of something else for a couple of seconds and that kid had forgotten Bob. Finders keepers stinks, I thought. Finders keepers is a way for people to keep stuff that doesn’t belong to them. I felt so bad that I cried even harder.
I didn’t get another bear and I didn’t have a very good time at the zoo that day. I really didn’t feel better until I went back over to my dad’s house the next weekend. We went to the video store again to get a movie. I took Bob. I went up to someone who worked there.
“Last time I was in here, I found this.” I held out Bob to the lady who took it from me, “it was over there.” I said as I pointed to the kids’ area.
“Oh! You know what? There was a little girl and her dad in here last week asking about this dog! They left their name and number just in case. She is going to be so happy! What a nice thing to do! Thank you.” She said with a big smile on her face.
I felt much better. Bob was going home.
Comments