The Locked Room

We were having a lot of trouble with certain people getting into our things. A family council was called and it was decided to build a locked room, so that we could put things in there that we did not want to get stolen.What ensued was a week of sawdust, bits of bamboo all over the house, and hammering during class time. Sarah and I then scrubbed the floor and painted it. We found a good padlock with a matching key, bent two nails to secure the door and it was done!  We all stood back and admired the finished product…a locked room. What a relief.We have thoroughly enjoyed having a nice locked room. We can put all kinds of things in there that were a constant temptation to little ones before… such as permanent markers, computers and the like. (Not to mention the dried fruit, soymilk and peanuts!)But then it happened…this morning I unlocked our securely locked room, stepped in and stood stock still in consternation and dismay. It was evident that an intruder had gotten into our locked room, and had eaten some of our dried mango. I called Sarah. She too stood there in shocked dismay. This was our locked room! Everything in this room was supposed to be secure from thieves! But there in front of us was the clear evidence that our room had been violated. There was only one thing to do…call Jason.Sarah marched sadly up the hill and informed Jason that someone had gotten into our locked room. A look of surprise crossed his face,“Was it locked?” inquired Jason. “Yes” said Sarah.  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I am sure” Sarah said solemnly. “How could they? When did it happen?” Jason asked. “It must have been last night,” replied Sarah.Jason soberly said that he would come and check it out. He was thinking of all the areas that he would need to reinforce to make our locked room safer in the future. His mind also wandered to who it could be who was responsible for the thievery. He slowly walked down the hill and up into our house, grimly crossed the floor and stepped into the locked room.There was silence. Then he said, “Yes, someone did get into the mangoes…”Long suppressed laughter then rang through the house while Jason carefully extracted the two naughty geckoes from the mango bag. Keeping our faces straight and not smiling had been pure torture, but it was well worth the look on Jason’s face when he discovered who the intruders were.