Poor Dad Sees Daughter Taking Money from His Stash, Finds 5 Times More There the Next Day – Story of the Day

A girl heard that her brother needed an operation to avoid fully losing his hearing, but their parents barely made any extra money. She took money from her father's secret stash to do something drastic. Her parents had no idea what would happen next.

"Mr. and Mrs. Collins, your son needs this operation urgently, or his hearing problems will get worse," Dr. Marsh told Pauline's parents with the help of an American sign language translator employed by the clinic.

Pauline and her brother, Ilan, were both born with perfect hearing; their parents, Xavier and Luna, were both deaf. However, Ilan got a severe ear infection as a baby, and it became a chronic condition that led to partial hearing loss. Despite the excellent life Xavier and Luna had had, they didn't want their child to be completely deaf, so they tried their best.

But even years later, Ilan was still having trouble. The issue now was that this surgery was too expensive, and Pauline knew her parents didn't have that kind of money. They worked and provided a decent life for both of their kids, but it was never enough.

Pauline heatedly signed, "Go check your stash and prove I took the money!"

So, they went home, taking Ilan and hoping he would get better. But Pauline was worried. She grabbed her computer and started searching for ways to make money. After searching for hours, it didn't seem possible for a 12-year-old to earn any kind of significant amount until she stumbled upon an event on Facebook: a violin competition.

Pauline looked from her computer to her violin case, sitting in the corner of her room, and pursed her lips. She couldn't use it. Ilan had accidentally broken it, and there was no money for repairs. The other issue was that the competition was in the neighboring state, so she would need money for the bus.

She went to talk to her mother, thinking that maybe Luna would understand and give her some cash. She went into the living room and spoke to her mother, using ASL.

"Mom, do you think I could get a new violin, or can we repair mine?" she asked and talked about the competition.

Her mother shook her head. "I'm sorry, baby. But there's not enough for that right now. I know you miss the violin, and I'll do my best to find you a new one soon. There will be other competitions. But things are…difficult right now," she responded.

Pauline nodded and went back to her room. She knew they didn't have enough and was stumped again. However, she suddenly remembered her father's hidden stash of money under the bed. It was just a few tens of dollars, but maybe that was enough to find a second-hand violin, so she went to her computer again to search for options.

She found one advertising a second-hand violin, which looked rough but apparently still worked; now, all she had to do was wait and find a way to get to her father's stash under their bed.

***

The next day, Pauline skipped her last two classes and returned home early. She grabbed her father's stash and took around $50. There was barely anything left, but it would have to do. However, she didn't notice that her father had been home and in the bathroom when she entered their bedroom.

He waited silently at the bathroom door to see what she was doing and was shocked that his daughter would steal from him. However, she never turned around. She only ran off, and he tried to follow. But it was no use. She ran too quickly, and Xavier lost track of her even after he got in his car and tried to find her.

***

Pauline didn't return home that night or the following morning. Xavier and Luna were dying of worry, but there wasn't much they could do aside from asking the police for help. They couldn't do much since their daughter had not been missing for long. They had to be patient.

So, they took Ilan to school and went to work, hoping that Pauline would return soon. To Xavier's utter shock, she was sleeping on her bed when he got home from work. He took her up and started signing rapidly and angrily.

"Where the hell have you been? WE'VE BEEN SICK WITH WORRY! I SAW YOU STEALING MONEY! PAULINE, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? You know stealing is wrong. You know that money is more emergencies, even if it's not much!" Xavier's hands were flying.

"Dad! Dad! I don't know what money you're talking about!" Pauline shook her head and shrugged.

"Don't lie to me! I saw you myself!" Xavier signed, and suddenly, Luna was in the room with Ilan. She was also shocked to see Pauline and started giving her a hard time.

However, Pauline heatedly signed, "Go check your stash and prove I took the money!"

Xavier huffed and stomped to his bedroom to see. He couldn't believe it when his hands produced a cheque for thousands of dollars.

"How did you do this? Where did you get this money?" he questioned when he returned with the stash and waved the cheque around.

Luna's eyes widened at the amount.

And Pauline shrugged. "Fine, I confess. I took the money, but only to buy that violin and go to a competition. I won, Dad. I'm really good at the violin. I won the first prize, and now, Ilan can have his surgery!" she signed quickly.

Her parents froze. "You did all this to raise money for your brother?" her mother wondered.

"Of course! I don't want him to hurt anymore. I know you can live a great life without hearing, but Ilan is always in pain because of his ear. He needs this surgery to stop that. Please, I'm sorry for sneaking and lying. But I had to do something," Pauline explained, and her parents had no words.

She did it out of the goodness of her heart, and they couldn't fault her for that. Ilan eventually had his surgery, and his chronic ear infections finally ceased. His hearing had been permanently affected but not completely gone.

And the family could rest easy for a while. Pauline continued to practice thanks to the cheap violin she found and got even better, earning prizes and, later on, a college scholarship. Xavier and Luna had the best kids in the world.

What can we learn from this story?

• Sometimes, you have to take risks to get what you want. Pauline shouldn't have stolen or run away from home like that, but she had good intentions, and it all worked out in the end.
• People with disabilities can still have extraordinary lives. Pauline didn't care that her brother might lose his hearing because she saw that her parents were fine and happy, even with little money. What mattered to her was stopping his pain.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a mom who followed her daughter after seeing her taking all the money from the stash and going out at night.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.