The Music Box

A few months ago, there was a knock at my door.  I opened the door and it was our next door neighbor.  I've only seen him in passing and have only talked to him once, apologizing for my kids throwing their ball into his yard when we first moved in.  He was holding this hideous music box.  It is HUGE and has an angel, a unicorn, and a crystal ball on the top of it.  I don't know how all of them tie together, but whatever.  He said his girlfriend had bought it for his niece and for some reason I don't remember she never gave it to her.  He said he had seen that we had little girls and thought we might like it.  I imagine he and his girlfriend has a conversation similar to this:

"What are we going to do with this ugly thing I won't let you give my precious niece?"
"Why don't you see if the crazy lady next door wants to give it to her hellions?"
"Good idea.  Be back in a minute..."

I didn't want the thing, and figured it would be broken in 10 minutes, but I took it anyway.  I didn't want to seem ungrateful or anything.

I put it on a shelf in Isabelle and Zoe's room where they couldn't reach it and it's been there collecting dust ever since. 

Fast forward to today....

Zoe was on the couch watching her beloved Little Bear, I was crocheting, Bill was on the computer and Olivia and Izzy were playing in Izzy's room.  All of a sudden, the door opens and Olivia pops her head out and says, "Everything is fine in Isabelle's room, Mom."

Which ANY mother knows translates to:  "We just did something really bad, Mom, and we think if we tell you nothing is wrong that you'll believe nothing is wrong and not come see what we did."

I said, "Olivia, you saying everything is fine makes me want to come see what's going on in there."  They like to rearrange furniture (they're little Hercules, I tell you) and I figured they had the bed in the middle of the room or something.

Olivia turned to Izzy and said, "We should tell her the truth."

And I was off the couch immediately.

Olivia said they knocked that "thing" off the shelf but it was OK, it didn't break.  She promised.  They put it in the closet.  I didn't believe for a minute that anything they would hide in the closet would be "OK" after falling off the shelf, so I went to investigate.

They opened the closet and there was the hideous music box.  Intact.  No chips.  No broken wings.  The unicorn horn was a little wiggly.  I realized that it was mostly plastic (I seriously didn't pay enough attention to it before and had assumed it was ceramic or something - I don't even know what song it plays or if it even works).  I moved it up to the shelf in the closet.  It's apparently as indestructible as it is ugly.  I guess one day I'll pawn it off on someone else.  Or leave it in the closet when we move.  A housewarming gift for the new tenants.  =)