Friday, August 20, 2021 The Hat in the Bathroom

I usually offer up a short fiction piece on Fridays, but I’m behind on fiction and ahead on true stories – the course of action here seems obvious to me.

This is not my story, but I’ve received permission to share it. I have a friend – we’ll call her Sara – and back when we were in college, she found herself the main character in a morality tale. Much to her dismay, she was unwittingly cast as the antagonist. Shall we begin?

Sara entered a bathroom on campus on a cold winter day in Minnesota. She went into one of the stalls and saw a beautiful knitted hat had been left there. It appeared that fortune had bestowed upon her a lovely gift and she promptly put it in her knapsack.

She exited the stall and was washing her hands when another student rushed in and went right to the stall she had just left. The young woman asked Sara, “Did you find a hat in here? I just left the bathroom and realized I put it down and came back right away to get it.” And at that moment, Sara was faced with a choice: she could own up to the fact that she’d taken it, or she could lie. She was embarrassed to have been caught with the goods, however, so she took the second path. “Nope – I haven’t seen it,” she said. The young woman was suspicious, asking, “Are you sure? I haven’t even been gone five minutes – it had to have been in here when you came in.” Sara, having begun with a lie had to keep it up, although this interrogation had significantly shaken her. “No, it wasn’t here – sorry! I hope you find it!” The student glared at her and they exited the bathroom together.

By this time, Sara wanted nothing to do with the hat and decided that she would wait until the girl left and then return it to the bathroom. But the girl didn’t leave. She stood there watching and waiting, so Sara had no choice but to go on her way. Her new plan was to walk around campus and circle back to the bathroom and get rid of that blasted hat. She started out and turned around, just in case. The student was following her. This was starting to take on a nightmarish quality.

Sara continued on her way, trying to effect an innocent meander so as not to arouse more suspicion, while at the same time looking for a way to dodge the dogged pursuit being given by this determined young woman. No one wants to be the mouse in a cat-and-mouse game, but here she was – definitely the mouse.

At the earliest opportunity, Sara ducked into one of the buildings on campus and quickly maneuvered her way through hallways and around to the back where she exited and then entered another building where she watched from the door. She saw the girl exit the back door of the first building and look around, clearly exasperated that her prey had vanished. The girl stood for a moment waiting and watching, but eventually gave up and went on her way.

Heaving a big sigh of relief, Sara made her way back to the bathroom as quickly as she could. The hat had become a bane and she couldn’t wait to get it out of her bag and off her conscience. No one was outside the bathroom when she got there, so she went in and carefully laid it in the stall right where she’d found it. What an ordeal! She’d never do that again, that’s for sure.

She opened the door to leave the bathroom and there stood the girl, waiting with a smirk on her face. The girl knew what Sara had done and Sara knew that she knew. Nothing was said and Sara walked away, thoroughly humiliated – a sadder, but wiser gal.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It should be said that “Sara” gave me the freedom to tell this story with some embellishment. The basic bones of the story are accurate, but I have added some creative detail to flesh it out a bit.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning unless you follow me around waiting for me to do it.