Fiction: Whose Ruler?

When Mrs Edon came home one evening after seeing her mother who was in hospital, she heard Enid and Ona shouting at each other. They were shouting so loudly that she could hear what they were saying a long time before she had reached the house. Oh! How loud these kids can be when they argue.

'Give me my ruler!' shouted Enid.

'It's not your ruler, it's mine!' shouted Ona.

'No, it's not. You forgot yours. It's at school'.

'No, I didn't. You forgot to bring yours, and now you want to take mine. Well, you won't!'

'No, I didn't forget mine at school. You just took it forcefully from me.'

'It is mine not yours.'

'Children! children! Be quiet,' said Mrs Edon as soon as she was inside the house, 'Stop shouting at once! All the neighbours will hear you. I could hear every word you were shouting when I was at the other end of the road. Must you both be so noisy especially when you argue?'

Enid and Ona looked down at the floor, but Ona still held the ruler.

'I'm sorry I shouted, Mother,' she said, "but it is my ruler. It isn't his."

'No, Mother,' said Enid, 'it's not hers. It's mine.'

'Well,' said their mother, 'I'm glad I came home early. But I can't understand why you are shouting at each other. Did your teacher tell you only to draw lines with a ruler, Enid?'

'No, Mother.'

'What did your teacher tell you to do One...? To draw lines all evening?'

'No, Mother,' replied Ona.

'Well then, it's easy,' said their mother, 'if it's Enid's ruler, he won't want it all the time; so he can lend it to you, Ona, when you want it. And if it's yours, you can lend it to Enid. Now, tell me the truth. Whose is it?'

But they both said, 'It's mine!'

Mrs Edon looked at them unhappily, and shook her head.

'You both want a ruler for your work this evening? Your father won't be pleased when I tell him he'll have to buy another ruler.. but if you both say it's yours, and you both want a ruler for your work.. . I'll have to break it, and give half to each of you.'

'No!' said Enid.

'No!' said Ona.

Mrs Edon said nothing, but she took the ruler from Ona and held it in both her hands. Enid and Ona looked at her. She was going to break it!

'Mother,' said Enid very quietly, 'I think I made a mistake. I couldn't see it very well when Ona was holding it. Now you're holding it, I can see it better. It isn't mine after all. It's hers."

Mrs Edon looked at Enid, 'l'm glad you told the truth,' she said, 'and because you did, I won't tell your father anything about it. Besides you just did what a good boy should do.'

She turned to Ona, 'Here you are,' she said, 'but you must promise to lend it to Enid when he asks for it.'

'I promise,' said Ona, taking the ruler.

'And, Enid, will you promise to give it back to Ona when she wants it?'

'Yes, Mother, I will.'