Why Has It Turned to Dust?

Marie sat in a corner and wept quietly before packing her bags to leave. I was so upset that I did not even bid her a last goodbye before she left. We were disappointed in her for her dishonesty. Mother could not live with the suspicion of having a thief under the same roof so she dismissed Marie promptly.

Life at home was difficult without her. I felt empty without her, I did not have the delicious food she would prepare whenever we wanted to eat. Moreover, I had to help with the household chores. But Mother had to do most of it and that made her grumpy since she was used to having a full-time maid. It was not until a fortnight later before the new maid would arrive.

Then one evening as I was tidying my cupboard I found my missing money stashed away in a corner and realised that my money was not stolen by Marie but misplaced by myself. As I recollect how I carelessly placed my five hundred dollars annual scholarship award in the messy cupboard, and how frenzied I was when I could not find it, I must have pushed it behind the stacks of worksheets.

Poor Marie! We had jumped to our own conclusions and made a hasty and unfair judgment of her. When Mother called the maid employment agency to apologise to her, it was too late. Theft was a serious offence so she was sent back home in Philippines already. We deeply regret wrongly accusing her to this day.