Daniel was very worried. It was Daddy’s birthday tomorrow and he wanted to buy him the nicest present ever. But he wasn’t sure what would be best. Suddenly, he remembered that last week they had gone to a posh new shop at High Street. The shop had opened recently right next to Mr. Brown’s pet shop, where he loved to go and watch the fish swim in their brightly lit aquariums. There, Daddy had picked up a beautiful black pen with a gold rim, but then he had seen the price and put it back.
‘I think he really wanted to buy that pen,’ thought Daniel to himself. ‘Why don’t I get it for him?’ So he took all his money out of his money bank. It was a really nice money box in the shape of Thomas the Engine. He could put his money in through a slit in the funnel and the whole bottom slid out when he wanted to take any of it out, like today. He had 3 pounds and felt very rich indeed. When he reached the shop the salesperson was busy with some other customers. So Daniel went to where the pens were displayed and took the black one out of the case to look at the price tag.
Oh my god, it said 10 pounds! Daniel had never had so much money but he really wanted the pen for his father. He looked around quickly. No one seemed to be bothered about him. He saw there were at least a dozen pens similar to the one he had in his hand. ‘Surely no one will miss one pen in a big shop like this,’ he thought, and then he did a very naughty thing. He quietly slipped the pen into his pocket and whistling loudly, walked out of the shop. His heart was racing but no one came after him and he ran as fast as he could until he reached home.
Next day he felt very pleased with himself as he proudly presented his special gift to Daddy.
‘Where did you get this from, Daniel,’ asked Daddy in surprise. ‘Did Grandma or Mother give you the money?’
‘No Daddy,’ said Daniel proudly, ‘I took it from my money box.’
‘How did you have so much money in your money box?’ asked Daddy raising an eyebrow.
‘I didn’t,’ said Daniel in a small voice. He was beginning to think that maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to get the pen.
‘Then how...’ began Daddy again, starting to look a little stern.
‘I just took it when no one was looking... but Daddy, they had a lot of pens like this, I am sure they didn’t need this one specifically.’
‘No Daniel, that is not right. When we take something that belongs to someone else without asking them or paying for it, it is called stealing. Come on now, we must go and return this right away.’
‘Ok, Daddy,’ said Daniel in a small scared voice. He put on his red and blue Mickey Mouse jacket with a little hood and bright yellow ears, and followed Daddy out of the house.
At the shop, Daddy waited to get the sales person’s attention and then quietly handed over the pen to him.
‘I am sorry,’ said Daddy ‘but I was looking at this pen yesterday and just realized that I slipped it into my pocket by mistake. I am really sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.’
‘Oh, thank you sir,’ said the young man. ‘I never noticed it was gone, but we have an inspection this weekend and I would have lost my job. I really need this job, so thank you for bringing this back.’
‘Not at all,’ said Daddy. ‘After all, the mistake was mine.’
All the while Daniel stood to one side thankful that daddy had not mentioned it was him who had taken the pen. Daddy then took Daniel to an ice cream shop and they each finished the biggest chocolate ice cream cone the shop had.
‘Thank you, Daddy, for not telling the man it was my fault.’
‘No Daniel, it was my fault for not explaining this to you before. See how much trouble we could have caused that poor young man if we had not returned the pen. Always remember all your actions have a consequence and we must think of those before we take any steps. Also, there are several lovely things in each shop that we like to see but cannot always buy. Sometimes, it gives us a pleasure to look at beautiful things and not necessarily own them.’
’Yes Daddy, now I know,’ said Daniel, linking his hands happily with his father and skipping all the way home.