Wendy was washing her hands in the girls room when something caught her eye. There, on the glass shelf above the sink, was a beautiful pearl ring.

Wendy looked around. There was no one else in the girls room but her. She took the ring off the shelf and slipped it on her finger. It fit as if it were made for her! It looked so pretty on her finger. She had wanted a pearl ring for so long. Her sister had one that her grandma had brought back from a vacation in Japan.

Wendy wanted to keep the ring, but…she knew some one had left it there by accident and would soon miss it.

She thought for a minute, wondering if she should go down to the school office and turn it in or…should she hold on to it and see if there was an announcement about a lost ring on the loudspeaker. Maybe there would be a flyer up about it. Until then she could wear it and pretend it was hers.

Wendy went back to class with the ring on her finger. She couldn’t stop looking at it, playing with it. Miss Pat noticed her playing with the ring and called her outside to speak with her.

Miss Pat had heard about a missing ring in the teacher’s lounge during lunch break. She looked at Wendy and asked,”Where did you get that ring, Wendy?”

Wendy’s eyes got all watery and her voice quivered as she answered, “I was going to give it back, honest I was. I found it in the girls room and it is so beautiful I just wanted to wear it for awhile before I gave it back.”

“Wendy,” said Miss Pat, “That ring is not yours to keep even for a little while. It belongs to someone else. It belongs to a girl, your age, who loves it and feels terrible that it is missing.”

By now Wendy was crying and saying how sorry she was for holding on to the ring. Miss Pat asked, “What do you need to do , Wendy?”

Wendy took the ring off her finger and asked Miss Pat for permission to go to the office and turn in the ring.

Miss Pat helped Wendy dry her eyes and sent her on her way.

Questions for you:

• Was Wendy wrong to keep the ring, even for a little while?

• Have you ever kept anything that didn’t belong to you?