Lily Was Blamed for Shattering Grandma Helen’s Favorite Vase — Then the Pet Camera Showed She Never Touched It
Chapter 5 — Lily Had Tried to Move Her Crayons Away From Buddy
Claire replayed the footage one more time.
This time Lily noticed something.
“Mommy, look.”
She pointed toward the screen.
Seconds before Buddy entered, Lily had gathered several crayons from the rug.
She moved them onto the opposite side of the room.
Claire frowned.
“Why did you move those?”
Lily answered:
“Buddy eats them.”
Helen stared.
That was true.
Buddy had chewed a green crayon the previous week.
Lily had been told to keep crayons away from him.
So while Helen later imagined Lily carelessly playing beside fragile furniture…
Lily had actually been trying to prevent Buddy from getting into something he shouldn’t.
“I was being careful,” Lily said.
Claire smiled gently.
“You were.”
Helen looked ashamed.
Her assumption had not merely been unsupported.
It was almost the exact opposite of what Lily had been doing.
Helen said:
“You were following the rule I gave you.”
Lily nodded.
“Yes.”
“And I still blamed you.”
Lily nodded again.
Helen sat quietly.
That hurt more than the broken vase.
