The Eventful Friday

Lucy was the most excited she had ever been when she got home from school last Friday. Lucy had been looking forward to taking a trip with mom to the local toy shop ever since she got the brilliant news last Friday, and now the day was finally here! Lucy was going to buy a brand new cuddly dog toy with her pocket money to add to the huge collection in her bedroom. If that wasn't exciting enough, Lucy's mom had also promised  her that she could choose anything for dinner to eat once they got home that night. Of course, that only meant one thing in the Evans household... it would be pizza and ice cream on the menu tonight!

After rushing out of the school gates and meeting mommy outside, Lucy could barely contain her excitement as they made the twenty-minute drive to the toy store in the center of town. Lucy kept herself busy by singing along with mommy to all of her favorite songs and counting as many cars as she could on the other side of the road. She had counted almost 100 different cars in all different colors by the time mommy parked the car, Lucy knew straight away that something wasn't right. This wasn't the toy shop she normally went to with mom. This was a completely different place that she had never ever been to before. It was definitely a toy shop though, because she could see lots and lots of teddy bears and hundreds of cuddly animal toys lined up in the window. Lucy thought that each toy looked amazing, but she knew that there was only one kind of cuddly toy that would be right for her.

As they walked into the shop, Lucy saw exactly the toy she wanted. It was absolutely perfect and precisely what she had been dreaming about bringing home since last Friday when she found out they'd be going to the toy shop. Without even asking mommy if it was okay, Lucy picked up the cuddly dog and began walking - well, more like running - towards the front of the toy shop. Mom smiled and asked Lucy if she was 100% sure that the cuddly dog was the one she wanted. She may only have been 5 years old, but she had never been as sure of anything before in her life.

When mommy paid for the new cuddly dog toy with her precious pocket money, Lucy was so happy that she thought she might burst ... which made what happened next so much worse! After leaving the toy store, Lucy thought that mommy had taken the box that the shopkeeper had packed the cuddly toy in and put it in the back of the car. She was horrified to learn that, once they arrived home, it was nowhere to be seen! The back of the car was empty. It was a complete mystery.

Lucy was so upset that even her favorite dinner of pizza and ice cream couldn't cheer her up. Even when mom said that she would call the toy shop the next day to see if anyone had found the cuddly dog, Lucy wasn't cheered up at all. Just as she was getting ready for bed that night, Lucy heard daddy get home from work. After running downstairs to share the story of how sad she was feeling, Lucy was both shocked and extremely happy to see that her daddy was holding a box from the same toy shop earlier.

How did daddy have the cuddly toy dog? As she opened the box, Lucy saw the toy that she had picked out just a few hours earlier. "You found it daddy!" Lucy said. "Found it?" dad asked. "I bought this as a present for you on my way home from work. I know how much you love dogs!" Mom started to laughed and told dad that Lucy had picked exactly the same toy in the shop earlier after school, but that it had gotten lost on the way home.

"Well" said dad, "we'll track that one down tomorrow and then you'll have two cuddly dog toys won't you?" He smiled and picked Lucy up for a big cuddle. Daddy gave the best cuddles. When mommy called the toy shop the next day, Lucy's first toy dog had been handed in by a lady who  found the box in the car parking lot. The lady said she had seen Lucy's mommy driving away with the box on the roof of the car the day before and it had fallen off! The mystery was solved and mom picked the toy up from the shop that day.

Lucy learned two very important lessons from the eventful Friday night. she knew now how important special items were, and that they should be looked after properly and that the next time she got worried, that mommy and daddy would always be around to offer love and help, and that was even MORE important that any present!