The Pencil Thief

“I never wanted to take it, I swear. It’s all her fault that she bought it in a royal blue mechanical pencil, I swear, I would never had taken it,”

30 minutes before

                  In the green zipper pencil case sat many writing utensils but only three of them stood out; the three most popular best friend, Paisley the pencil, Inny the index card, and Emily the erasers.

         Paisley the pencil was a pretty royal blue mechanical pencil that her owner, Stacy, bought from Staples. Inny the index card was also from Staples but she had been favored out of all the index cards in the pack, for being a pretty purple index card. Emily was from Michaels, she’s a special art eraser, Stacy thought she erased well.

         So they all sat in the green pencil case, chatting about their adventures in the outside world.

         “Remember when Stacy wrote Ronny’s name with me and then she put a big heart around it,” Paisley the pencil said.

         “Yeah, and when he walked by her desk she placed me over it,” Inny the index card chimed in.

         “And when he asked her to copy her notes, she used me to erase it,” Emily the eraser concluded.

         “Yeah, she should just tell him that she likes him,” Paisley the pencil said.

         “I think he likes her too,” Inny the index card said.

         “Everything would work out just fine,” Emily the eraser said. As if on cue the pencil case shook.

         “That’s odd, Stacy should still be outside, it’s recess time,” Paisley the pencil said.

         “It’s not her,” Inny the index card when the zipper was pulled open.

         “Then who is it?” Emily the eraser asked. A pair of calloused fingers reached inside the pencil case; all the utensils started screaming.

         “It’s definitely not Stacy,” Paisley the pencil said. The calloused fingers had reached for Paisley the pencil and now held her tightly in its palm.

         “No, not Paisley the pencil!!” Emily the eraser screamed.

         “Please not her! You can take Daniel the dry erase marker instead, Stacy said he writes well,” Inny the index card yelled. Both of their pleas where ignored. The thief couldn’t hear them, to him writing utensils didn’t speak.

         Soon again, the zipper was closed shut. Paisley the pencil could see the person clearer now, it was Ronny.

Present time

“I never wanted to take it, I swear. It’s all her fault that she bought it in a royal blue mechanical pencil, I swear, I would never had taken it,” Ronny’s guilty face sparked pity in the teacher’s eyes.

         “Okay Ronny, that still doesn’t give you the right to take something that does not belong to you,” The teacher lectured.

         “Yes, Mrs. Johansen, I understand,” Ronny nodded.

         “Okay Ronny, apologize to Stacy, give her, her pencil back, and then take your seat,” The teacher said.

         “Okay, Mrs. Johansen,” Ronny replied before walking to the center of the room where Stacy sat. “I’m sorry Stacy, here you go,” Ronny handed her the royal blue mechanical pencil.

         “Thank you,” Stacy whispered before taking the pencil from his palm. Ronny returned back to his seat.

         Stacy saw a neatly folded paper in the clip of the mechanical pencil. She took it out and unfolded it slowly. She laid it out neatly, a small smile tugged on her lips as she read the words.

         ‘Will you be my valentine?’