Picking a door at random, Sarah walked into chaos. This must be Mikey's room. Toys were scattered all over. Clothes everywhere. It was almost overwhelming to her senses. She considered just getting a snow shovel and removing everything. But she wasn't really out to punish Mikey. Boys would be boys, and that includes a certain amount of mess. Perhaps if Jon was setting a better example, Mikey's room could be cleaner. A decent stretch goal, but not the focus for now.
Stepping carefully, partially for balance, partially so she didn't destroy anything, Sarah made her way from clean spot to clean spot. She didn't really know what she was looking for, just something that would inspire her. On the messy table, too low to be called a desk, she found it. A math assignment all about adding and subtracting fractions. It was unfinished, there was no name at the top, and two of the answers were wrong. It was perfect, and she carefully put it back in the red folder for protection and slid it into the bag.
She headed for the door and paused. It felt wrong taking only one thing and not leaving any gifts at all. She looked around the room again and carefully stepped to a shelf above the bed that had a bunch of soccer trophies. These were cheaply made, plastic electroplated to look like brass or gold. The plaques at the bottom didn't even list a name. Just a year, and a season, and a team. A fun idea struck Sarah, and she selected two trophies with the current year listed on them. It seemed whatever organization was making these was excited to give the kids something to display.
But snagging a trophy was not why she had come back into the room. She had come back to leave Little Mikey something interesting. And she had just the idea. Reaching into the bag, she pulled out the dog brush, and set it on the table, where all of Mikey's other things were.
Immediately, the room became a little bit messier, as there was dog hair everywhere. Not sure if it worked like she thought, Sarah made her way to the door, and then back to the master bedroom. If it wasn't good to just take, if she had to leave something behind after taking something, then she had something quite fun for Mrs. Madison.
Sarah walked over to the vanity, ignoring the TV screen and video game consoles that she had already left, even though she hadn't known she was doing so. Out of the bag came the soccer trophies, and Sarah set them in a place of pride on the vanity.
Sarah left the bedroom again and picked a new door. This one was the kid’s bathroom, shared between the three. They each had a drawer. Mikey's was filled with rubber ducks and some other toys to make bath time fun. Jon's sister, whose name Sarah was sure she knew at some point, had a basket with a skin routine, and some tubes of lipstick that were rolling around. Black was the first one that Sarah grabbed. It would work.
Jon's drawer was rather empty compared to the others. A stick of deodorant and a toothbrush was all he had in his drawer. Time to fix that. The black lipstick came back out of the bag, as did the pink Bic razors. His mother’s shampoo, conditioner, and exfoliating rub as well as the hairbrush also joined the now populated drawer. The eyeshadow barely fit but fit it did. Sarah smiled with satisfaction when the drawer closed.
The last door was to the sister’s room. Chloe? That felt closer but not quite right. The room looked like it was a mess, but appearances could be deceiving. The chaos was too much. The clothes were strewn on the floor. Books were stacked haphazardly on the shelf, each facing a different way. The comforter was mostly off of the bed, and the pillows were barely hanging on. A stuffed moose on the nightstand had a lacy black bra draped over it. No one accidentally ended up in a situation like that. The room was a carefully calculated effort to be as annoying as possible to a mother who loved clean spaces. Sarah could not only relate, but she had been there three years ago herself. It had just been a phase, as much as Sarah had shouted that it wasn't.
In this room, Sarah had a specific shopping list to start with. In, well, near, the closet and dresser, Sarah found her key items. A black skirt and a pair of sheer black tights. The bra from on top of the moose was the last item that Sarah truly needed for what she planned. One of each would be enough. Sarah didn’t have a worthy gift for Zoe in her bag. Not yet at least. But it could wait. She looked around the room, just to make sure that she had everything she wanted for now.
