Molly and her mother were shopping for clothes on a Saturday afternoon,
but every time Molly found something she liked, her mother said, "That's too expensive, Molly."
In the end, Molly's mother chose an ugly pair of pants.
"I'm never going to wear them!" Molly complained.
Molly's mother was very careful about spending money.
"Money doesn't grow on trees," she always said.
"Oh, hi, Molly!" It was Molly's friend Erica, who was shopping with her mother in the same store.
"Hi, Erica!" Molly said.
"Things are so expensive these days, aren't they?" said Erica's mom.
"Yes, I can't believe the prices!" agreed Molly's mother.
"Mom, I want that!" said Erica, pointing to an expensive face cleanser.
"Of course, honey. One? Two? No, let's take three."
Erica's mother put some bottles into her shopping cart.
"Well, we should get going. Good-bye!"
"Mom? Can I have some too?" asked Molly.
"Honey, this is really overpriced," Molly's mother answered, "but if you want, we can get one."
"No, I want more," Molly said.
"One is more than enough," her mother said firmly.
Molly's family wasn't poor, but her parents didn't buy Molly whatever she wanted.
"Money isn't everything," her father would say.
"The real valuable things in life cannot be bought with money."
"And money doesn't grow on trees," her mother would add.
The next day, Molly and her friends were looking at magazines at Jenny's house.
"Wow! I'm going to ask my mom to buy me this!" Esther exclaimed, pointing to the dress in a fashion ad.
"Oh, this is so nice! I'll tell my dad I want this for my birthday!" Sharon said.
"See what I got?" Jenny held up a pretty blue shirt.
"It's so cute! How much was it?" asked Sharon.
"I don't know, but it has a matching hat. See?"
Molly felt so jealous of her friends.
"Why are my parents so stingy with money?" she thought to herself.
As she was walking home, something on the sidewalk caught her eye.
Molly bent down to pick it up. It was a purse.
"Someone must have dropped it!" she said, looking for the owner.
There was no one around, so Molly opened the purse.
She gasped! The purse was filled with cash!
"Oh no! What should I do?" Molly wondered.
"I should take it to the police station, but what if the owner never comes to claim it?
Maybe I could take just a little bit of money and then take it to the police station?"
At home, Molly did not tell her parents about the purse and went upstairs to bed.
As she thought about keeping the money, a strange feeling stirred inside of her, something she had never felt before.
Two voices began to argue in her head.
"Take the money," said Molly the Red.
"No! Turn it in to the police!" said Molly the White.
"No one will know if you take it!" said the Red.
"It's not yours. You can't keep it!" said the White.
Molly wasn't sure which voice to listen to, but when she thought of all the things she could buy, she decided to take the money.
"Now you can buy anything you want!" said Molly the Red.
"No, Molly! Don't do it!" Molly the White begged.
Molly felt that strange feeling grow stronger.
"Now you can be like your friends!" the Red whispered excitedly.
Molly smiled and ignored the strange feeling inside.
At the store, she realized it felt powerful to have so much money.
"I'll take these two, please," she said, handing two pairs of shoes to the sales clerk.
"Here you go," smiled the clerk. "Thank you and come again!"
Molly also bought a new shirt and jeans, and decided to wear them on her way home.
As she left the store, she bumped into her friends.
"Molly! You look so stylish!" admired Erica.
"Are those new jeans?" asked Jenny.
"I love that shirt!" exclaimed Sharon.
"Where did you get the money to buy these things?" Jenny asked.
"I . . . my mom . . . gave . . . money . . ." Molly stammered.
"It's none of your business!" she burst out.
After she spent the rest of the day buying whatever she wanted, Molly took her purchases up to her bedroom.
That strange feeling nudged at her heart again.
"What is this I'm feeling?" she wondered. It was really bothering her.
"I bought everything I wanted, so why am I not happy?"
Molly picked up the empty purse and opened it up again.
Inside was a letter. "Dear Mommy," the letter began, "I wish Daddy would recover soon.
I don't have a lot, but here is some money I saved from working.
Please use it for Daddy's hospital bills.
I just want Daddy to be well again."
As Molly read the letter, her eyes welled up with tears.
"What have I done? What have I done?" she cried aloud. Her heart was aching.
"What kind of person am I? I'm a thief!" she moaned.
"I hate myself! I hate myself!"
"Molly! Molly! Wake up, honey!" Molly's mother gently shook her.
Molly was in her room, but the shopping bags and new shoes were gone.
"You were having a nightmare," her mother said.
Molly felt something against her back.
It was the purse, and the money was still inside. Molly was relieved.
She explained how she had found the purse, and confessed that she had wanted to keep the money.
"I'm glad it was just a bad dream," Molly said.
"Me too, honey, and I'm proud of you," her mother said.
"How can you be proud of me? I wanted to keep the money!" Molly said.
"But you didn't. You know that strange feeling you had?" her mother asked.
"That was your conscience. It was telling you to do what was right.
In the end, you listened to your conscience, your heart, and that's what's most important."
"Mom, I learned that having the things I want doesn't make me happy," Molly said.
"Money can't buy me happiness."
"You're a good girl.
It's good deeds that make a good heart," her mother said lovingly.