'She'll Die Soon Anyway!' Teen Robs Old Lady's Home Until Recognizes Photo in Her Album — Story of the Day

Ten was an orphaned teen who pretended to be a handyman and visited people's houses looking for a suitable victim to rob. One night, he sneaked into old Mrs. White's house to steal things from her garage and was shocked to see his photo in her photo album.

It was a cold afternoon, and Mrs. White was sipping some hot tea when she heard a loud knock on her door. She answered it and saw a young boy, probably in his late teens, standing on her front porch with a toolbox.

"Yes?" she asked. "How may I help?"

"I'm Ten," said the boy. "I heard you're looking for someone to help you with house repairs."

"Oh yes," she said. "Yes, I am. But I don't remember contacting anyone. Who sent you?"

"Nobody," the boy said, smiling. "I was passing through this neighborhood and asked if anyone needed repairs. Your next-door neighbor told me that you were looking for a handyman."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You appear too young for this line of work, deary. Are you sure you can fix everything? This house is pretty old, you see. It might take you days."

He smiled and said, "I don't have parents, and I live in a shelter. I need to support myself, so I do this after school. Don't worry; I've been doing this since I was 12."

Things obtained dishonestly will never make you happy.

"I see, I see," Mrs. White sighed. "Then come on in and have a look around."

Ten did that. He walked around the house, indicating the repairs that needed to be done, and noticed Mrs. White lived alone.

"You got no family?" he asked as he toured the house, Mrs. White behind him.

"No," she said sadly. "My husband died years ago, and we never had children. It's sad living alone, but not so sad when you think about all the worries it saves you."

"I wish I had a family," Ten said. "It'd be nice..."

After Ten made a list of repairs he needed to do, Mrs. White served him some hot chocolate and cookies, and he said he'll start working at her house the next day.

"How much would you charge for it, deary?" asked the older lady. "It must be a lot, wouldn't it?"

"Considering all the house repairs, yes, it would be expensive," he said politely, "but I'd give you a discount because your cookies are really nice," and Mrs. White blushed.

"Oh, you are a sweet boy, deary," she said. "Yes, you are."

"By the way," Ten added. "We didn't look in the garage. Are you certain it doesn't require any repairs?"

Ten noticed Mrs. White shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "Actually," she admitted quietly. "Because you appear to be a nice kid, I'll let you in on a little secret. There are some antiques there... yes, there are. My husband used to own an antique store, and I still have some of his precious things. Nobody is allowed in there. Ever. I don't let anyone in."

Mrs. White thought Ten was a friendly soul, so she blindly trusted him and told him about the antiques in her garage. Poor thing. The 88-year-old had no idea he'd be back later that night to rob her.

***

That night, Ten stood in front of the garage with his toolbox, eager to get his hands on the antiques inside. The whole neighborhood was eerily quiet, so he managed to get inside Mrs. White's house without being noticed.

After he unlocked the garage and got in, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was a lot of valuable stuff in there, not just one or two pieces.

That old hag lied! It's literally a treasure! Ugh, what would she do with all this stuff? Take them to heaven? She'll die soon anyway! he thought.

Ten quickly filled a duffle bag he had carried with as many things as he could and thought of leaving when an old silver box caught his attention.

When he picked up the box, it seemed light, and when he opened it, he discovered several photo albums inside. He tossed the albums out and stuffed the box into his bag, only to be surprised. A picture of him was inside the half-opened album on the floor.

He saw a younger himself posing with a smiling man, and he was sure he had seen him, but he couldn't recall where.

Do I know her? he wondered about Mrs. White. Is she related to him? Ahh, never mind!

Ten took the picture album with him and ran away. At the shelter where he lived, he was lying on his bed, wondering how a picture of him ended up in Mrs. White's garage.

Ten wasn't going to visit Mrs. White the next day. He never revisited a house after stealing from there. But after finding the picture, he couldn't contain his curiosity. He wouldn't tell her he had been in the garage, though.

***

"Where did you find this, deary?" gasped the older woman. "Oh, this, this should have been in the garage!"

Ten panicked. "Oh, no, not at all!" he lied. "I found this in the basement. I was looking around the place before fixing the floorboards, and I found it there. I guess this picture is very special to you."

"It is…" she said quietly, then tears streamed down her cheeks. "It is, deary."

Ten felt so bad when he saw her crying and hurt. He had robbed people's homes before but never hurt anyone. He would never do something like that. Never.

"My son," said the older woman after a pause. "You see this man holding that little kid in his arms. I don't remember that boy's name, but this is my son, Joshua. I lost him in a fire. He was trying to save this kid and his parents from the fire in their house and died."

"I'll never be able to get over his death, deary," Mrs. White continued. "So I took all his pictures and put them in the garage. He and my husband meant the most to me, but you won't find their things anywhere in the house because just looking at them would make me cry. Yes, it would! How did I manage to leave this one in the basement?"

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Ten, his eyes welling up. "That must have been pretty bad."

After talking to Mrs. White, Ten realized Joshua was his neighbor who had taught him how to work with tools. He hadn't seen him since the fire in his house.

Ten had passed out in the accident, and when he awoke in the hospital, he discovered that his parents were never coming back. He had no idea Joshua had died in the fire too.

Ten was just nine years old then. He was placed in a shelter because his relatives didn't want to be involved in his care, and when he became a teen, he started targeting people, mainly the elderly, and robbing houses.

But after that day, Ten changed. Later that night, he returned Mrs. White's belongings and stopped robbing people's homes. He couldn't return the items he had stolen from other people because he had already sold them, but in order to make amends, he stopped stealing and began repairing the homes of the elderly for free.

What can we learn from this story?

• We all make mistakes as humans, but what matters is whether or not we are willing to correct them. Ten was wrong to take advantage of people and rob them, and once he realized his error, he made amends for it.
• Things obtained dishonestly will never make you happy. Ten robbed Mrs. White and felt terrible when he discovered she was his savior's mother. Ten couldn't be happy with the stolen items any longer and stopped stealing.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a thief who wanted to take an older woman's life after robbing her but stopped when he saw his photo in her house.

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.