I was s-o-o-o-o mad! That Molly! Of all the bad things she could do to me, this was the worst. I decided I would not ever forgive her for it -- never!
She -- I can hardly tell you what she did. It was just so mean. So embarrassing. How could she do it? She walked in, reading her book. She didn't look where she was going and she -- she --- she SAT on me! Every time I thought about it I felt hot anger rising in me like lava from a volcano. It burned my stomach!
It's never nice when someone sits on you, but it's REALLY bad when you are little and the sitter is much bigger than you are. I tried to tell her to get off, but I couldn't talk. My mouth was mushed down into the couch. It's a good think I'm a stuffed monkey instead of a real one, because it's very hard to breathe when someone is sitting on top of you.
I kept squirming and trying to get out, and finally Molly noticed me and got up. Whew! What a relief!
But when I could breathe again I was mad!
"Molly, why did you sit on me!" I yelled. "That was so mean! You aren't my friend any more. I'm never going to talk to you again."
"I'm sorry, Linkee," Molly said. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I was reading my book and didn't notice that I sat on you."
"Sorry isn't good enough," I sniffed. "You just about smashed me. I'll never forgive you."
"But, Linkee," she said. "Remember how you cut my hair just the other day? I forgave you, and that was worse than what I did. I sat on you accidentally. You cut my hair on purpose. You are fine now, but I still have a chunk of hair that is shorter than the rest."
"I don't care," I said. "I'm not going to forgive you."
And I didn't talk to her for the rest of the day.
"Linkee, would you like to play Bounce Off with me?" she asked that evening.
I didn't answer.
"I bought banana ice cream at the 7-11. Do you want some?" she said later.
I didn't answer. I had decided not to talk to her ever again -- and I wasn't going to do it! The ice cream was my favorite, but I still felt the volcano burning in my tummy. I would teach her not to sit on me!
This morning Grandpa said, "It's time for Sunday School. Linkee, please go tell Molly to come in."
"I can't," I told him. "I'm NOT talking to her. I'm still mad at her."
"I hope you listen to the story, Linkee," Grandma said. "I think it's one you need to hear."
I like Grandma's stories, especially the ones Jesus told. But this one made me feel squirmy inside. It was about a man who didn't have any money. He couldn't pay the king back the millions of dollars he owed him. The king was kind and forgave him. He didn't have to pay back the big loan. The man was happy when he went away, but then he met a man who owed him just a little bit. I thought he would be kind to his friend who just owed him a small amount. No! Instead he was mean and threw him in prison because he didn't pay back what he owed.
I knew why Grandma said I needed to hear this story. I remembered that I DID cut off Molly's hair because she was doing her homework instead of paying attention to me. I've done lots of other things, too. I jumped over the table and accidentally knocked Molly's water over. It went all over her homework. Then there was the time I was looking through her jewelry box without asking. Her cherry earrings looked good enough to eat -- and so I ate them. And then there was the time..... Well, anyway Molly has forgiven me a lot of times. And she didn't mean to sit on me. I knew what I had to do.
I went over and gave her a big hug. "I'm not mad any more, Molly," I said. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."
She hugged me back, "I'll be more careful from now on," she said.
I sighed with relief. The volcano had quit burning. I didn't feel mean and mad any more. I think when I was mad, I hurt me a lot more than I hurt Molly.
"Is there any of that banana ice cream left?" I asked.
"I saved some just for. you," she said. She went into the kitchen and brought me a bowl of yummy ice cream.
I was glad I forgave her. I was glad to be happy again -- and I do love banana ice cream!