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I was 7 years old and I stole my mom’s red lipstick.

Well, I don’t think I saw it as stealing. She always let me wear her nail polish so I didn’t think she’d mind if I used some lipstick. I took the tube to my room, sat on my bed and opened it. I twisted it all the way up and put some on, rubbing my lips just as I had seen mom do.

Then came the oops moment: I forgot to twist it down before I put the lid back on. When I opened it again, the whole thing was smashed and I was scared. I remember the nervous feeling that rose inside as wondered what to do with it. I was so sure mom would spank me that I threw it under my bed and hoped she would never find it.

I never heard anything about it from her, so my guess is that she probably thought she lost it – at least until we moved from that apartment. I remember my room being packed up and seeing the tube there when the bed was moved, the scared-I-was-in-trouble feeling rising in my chest again. But mom never said anything about it. That was unexpected since at that point it was obviously my fault it was ruined. Maybe she had forgotten she had it. Maybe she was so busy with the move and packing and keeping 4 little rascals (I was the eldest) out of trouble that a ruined tube of lipstick was the last thing on her mind.

For my part, I was just happy to not get caught.

The above story was written for Mama Kat’s writers workshop. The prompt was to write about a time you stole something.