I Spy!

“You were spying on me!” she said, her face red with anger.

“No I wasn’t! I didn’t know you were here. I was looking for . . .”

“Looking for what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You can’t tell me because you weren’t looking for anything. You were spying on me!” Harriet stomped her feet as she walked out of the closet. She was sick of her cousin Henry following her, and she was tired of him spying on her. She and her friend Rhonda were trying to have some private time. Henry made that very difficult.

Henry came to spend the summer each year with Harriet’s family. Years ago, Harriet enjoyed his company. But these days, just seeing him bothered her. It wasn’t that Henry did anything wrong—he just stuck to her like glue.

Harriet and Rhonda packed up their toys and took them somewhere else. Rhonda was familiar with Henry. Harriet had talked about him many times.

Just then, a light bulb went off in Harriet’s head. She called after Henry and told him to come back. He did. She made him stay right by her side the rest of the afternoon. Even when he tried to leave, Harriet made him come back. By the end of the first day, Henry was sick of Harriet. Harriet knew that when Henry begged to leave, she had succeeded. For the rest of the week, Henry always found something else to do.