Potato Peels

Adapted from a true story

Marla and Julie were the best of friends. They loved to play dolls together and dress up as pioneers. Tonight Marla was going to Julie’s house for a sleep out! Julie’s mom was going to let them sleep in the hide-a-bed in the living room. Marla’s Mama helped Marla pack up her pink suitcase with pajamas, toothbrush and comb.

After a hug from Daddy, big sister, and brother, they were off. It was quite a long drive to Julie’s house, and it seemed even longer since she wanted to get there so much.

“I wonder if they will have pizza for supper like last time! Yum,” said Marla.

“Remember to be thankful for whatever they serve you,” said Mama.

Finally they were pulling into the Johnson’s drive. “Now, Marla,” said Mama, “remember that you must obey Mrs. Johnson just like you do me. I will ask her how you did when I pick you up tomorrow. Let’s pray now, and ask Jesus to help you.” They did, but Marla squirmed a bit in her seat. Why did Mama have to say such a long prayer?

As they climbed up the steps to the Johnson’s house, Julie burst out the front door. “Oh, Marla, I’m so glad you could come! Aren’t you excited! My Mom said that we could pick out the sheets to put on the bed. Come on!” They darted into Julie’s bedroom.

“Oh, these are so pretty!” exclaimed Marla. “Look at the little butterflies.”

“They are,” Julie agreed. “Let’s put them on.”

As the girls passed the kitchen, Mrs. Johnson stopped them. “You might not want to use those; the embroidery on them is rather itchy.”

“Oh, please can we, Mom? They won’t bother us,” pleaded Julie.

“Sure, if you want to…” said Mrs. Johnson. The two girls dashed off to the living room.

A few minutes later, Marla’s Mama came in. “I will see you tomorrow, Dear,” she said to Marla. “Here is a goodnight hug for you.”

After Mama left, they were called in for supper. It wasn’t pizza, but Marla remembered to be polite.

“Now girls,” said Mrs. Johnson, after the dishes were washed, “go ahead and get ready for bed and then we will have a Bible story time.” Marla grabbed her toothbrush and pajamas from her suitcase and headed after Julie and Rosalie, Julie’s older sister, to the bathroom.

Their toothpaste was all glittery and pink, and suddenly Marla’s looked quite dull. “Could I have a little bit of your toothpaste?” she asked.

“Sure!” Julie and her sister said together. Julie squeezed some on Marla’s toothbrush.

“Mmm, ih tase wike stwabehwee!” Marla said, through a mouthful of sudsy foam.

“Stwabehwee ih my faywit!” Julie said, and they all giggled together.

After story time and prayer by the warm woodstove, Julie and Marla crawled into the big hide-a-bed.

“It’s cold in here!” giggled Julie.

“Ooo, it is!” said Marla. “I think I feel a spider down there!”

“Where is it?!” squealed Julie.

“Girls!” a voice from the kitchen called. “Settle down, it’s bedtime.” But it was hard to settle down; they were both excited.

“Let’s make candles tomorrow. We have some old wax that my mom said we could melt,” whispered Julie.

“Really? I never made candles before,” Marla whispered back.

“We can make a bonfire and cook stew, too!” said Julie.

“Shh, we’d better be quiet, otherwise your mom might not let us sleep together,” said Marla.

She flipped over and tried to be still, but everything was different. At her own house it was cold at night, but here the wood stove was still keeping the house quite warm. The kitchen lights were on, and Mrs. Johnson was cleaning up the kitchen. Worst of all, the sheets were itchy!

It seemed a long time before Mr. and Mrs. Johnson turned off the lights. Mrs. Johnson came over to their bed and said a soft “good-night.” Julie, who had been flipping in bed, too, said, “Mommy, these sheets are itchy. Can we please change them?”

“I said they would be. It might be better to listen next time, instead of insisting on your own way. I will get another pair for you.”

They quickly made up the bed together. “Now, I want you two to stay in bed and go to sleep.” Mrs. Johnson followed Mr. Johnson down the hall to their bedroom.

After a long time Marla whispered to Julie, “Are you asleep?”

“No, I can’t go to sleep,” whispered Julie.

“Me, neither,” Marla whispered back.

“Do you know what I’ve been thinking?” said Julie. “Since we can’t go to sleep anyway, wouldn’t it be fun to be a secret service club? I heard my mom say that she was going to have potatoes tomorrow. We could peel them for her while everyone is sleeping. She would be so surprised to see them done in the morning!”

“That sounds fun, but what will she say when she knows that we were out of bed?” said Marla.

“She will probably be so happy, that she wouldn’t mind,” said Julie.

“Do you think they are asleep now?” asked Marla.

“Yep. They never take very long to go to sleep, and I think we have been lying here for hours!” said Julie.

The two girls crept out of bed and into the kitchen. “Here are the peelers and knives,” whispered Julie. “I think the potatoes are in the pantry.”

After all was ready, the girls began to peel. They kept an ear cocked for any sounds from down the hall. “You forgot to peel this part of the potato,” whispered Julie, pointing out some brown skin that Marla had missed. But just then, there was a creak from the hall.

“Quick, grab the bowl!” whispered Marla frantically as she ran to the hide-a-bed with the peelers, with Julie and the potatoes close behind. They dove under the covers and lay very still, but there were quite a few queer lumps in the blankets.

Mrs. Johnson came into the room and looked at them sharply. “You aren’t asleep yet? Is something wrong?” She asked, peering at them through the darkness.

“No Mom,” said Julie, but just then, a peeler slipped from the covers and landed on the floor with a little clink. Mrs. Johnson picked it up and frowned.

“What have you been doing, girls?” she asked in a sad voice. There was no use in hiding anything now. She would find out one way or another. They pulled out the potatoes, knives, and the other peeler from under the covers and tried to explain.

“We have almost all the potatoes peeled for you,” Julie ended hopefully.

“Oh, girls,” said Mrs. Johnson with a tired sigh, “I was going to use those for baked potatoes and so I didn’t want them peeled. But much more than that, you disobeyed me because you thought your way was best. You both need your sleep, and I think I will have to separate you for the night.”

“I’m very sorry, Mama,” said Julie, “It was all my fault. I was the one with the idea.”

“No, it’s my fault too,” added Marla, “I wanted to do it, too. I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” said Mrs. Johnson, “but I’m afraid the you two can’t be trusted together anymore. Julie will need to sleep in her room, and you, Marla, can sleep on the other couch. This bed is full of potato peelings.”

The two girls sadly picked up their blankets and went their separate ways to bed.

Don’t you think that it would have turned out much better if Julie and Marla had obeyed in the beginning, instead of thinking that their own way was best?

The Bible says, “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”* (Colossians 3:20)