My Short Short for the Day

“And you were alone?”  The officer stared at Dora.

Dora nervously looked from her mother and back to the officer.  “Yes, yes of course.”  She laughed a little and looked at her mother quickly.  “Who would I be with?”

“Amber.”  The officer flipped the page in his notebook and paused for a moment reading over the page.  “I went over around 8:15pm.  I climb up on the porch railing, get into the tree and there I am.”  The officer paused to look at Dora.

“Wha…no…wait.”  Dora turned red and faced her mother but quickly looked away.  Then she looked up at the officer before looking down at her hands.

“So Amber wasn’t there?”  The officer waited.

“No, I mean…yes.  For a little bit.  We were just reading.”  Dora looked down at her hands.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened Dora.”  The officer closed his notebook.

“Yes, Dora.  The truth this time.”  Dora’s mother set her knitting aside and turned toward Dora.

“Well, I…ok, yes.  Amber came over at 8:15pm that night.  That is when she always comes over.  I mean, 8 is such an early curfew.  I am almost 13.  I shouldn’t have to go to bed so early.  It’s not fair.” 

“So, Amber came over at 8:15pm.”  The officer redirected her.

“Yes, so we were reading about this woman who was a jewel thief.  She wore beautiful clothes and lived in a palace by the ocean.  She had servants and maids and all kinds of people who worked for her…”

“Dora, please.”  The mother scowled at her.

“Uh, yes, well.  We finished the book and I said I wanted to be rich and have all the beautiful clothes and things that Anastasia had.”  Dora hesitated.

“Go on, Dora.”  The officer urged.

“Well, so she said I could never be a jewel thief.  I was too clumsy and stupid.”  Dora straightened in her seat and jutted her chin out.  “So, I said, of course I could be a jewel thief.  I can be as quiet as a mouse.  So, Amber said prove it! And I couldn’t back down now could I?  She’d tell everyone at school about it.  So, I said fine, I’ll prove it.”  Dora’s cheeks were flushed while she spoke but as she paused and caught her mother’s eye, she paled.

“Where is the necklace Dora?”  The officer asked tucking his notebook into his pocket.

Dora slumped and pulled the necklace from her dress pocket.