Norah groaned as she rolled over and turned off her beeping alarm clock. She pulled the covers over her head, only to be disturbed again only moments later.

“Norah! Are we going to hit those yard sales or not?”

“It’s morning already?” the teenager said sleepily.

“Yes. Are you coming with me?”

Norah sighed. “I suppose...”

“You can sleep if you want.”

“No, I’ll come, as long as you give me time to get ready.”

Thirty minutes later, Norah, showered and dressed, and her mom headed out of the door and got into the car. They drove a little way down the block and got out at the first yard sale. It was being run by a little, white-haired old lady and her neighbor. The pair sat in chairs on the lawn and giggled, having the time of their lives.

Norah’s mom started going through a rack of clothes and pulled off a coat. She showed it to the ladies, asking, “How much is this?”

“Two dollars,” the woman replied.

“Look, Norah.” Norah walked over and touched the coat.

“Oooh, it’s soft,” she said, and ran her hands in the white rabbit’s fur.

“And it’s only two dollars. This would be good to have if you were going to a dressy event in the winter.”

“But what do I ever go to that is dressy enough to warrant fur?”

“I don’t know. But put it on. It’s too small for me.”

Norah pulled the coat on and modeled it for her mother.

“It looks really nice,” her mom said. “You never know when you might have to dress up.”

“Oh, honey, that looks great on you,” one of the ladies said.

“Perfectly darling,” the other said.

Norah smiled a little. “But I don’t have a mirror...”

“It’s only two dollars. If you bought a fur coat in Saks, it would cost far more than that,” said her mother.

Norah heard the truth in this, so she bought the coat.

But when she got home and looked at it in the mirror, she wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like how it fits. The shoulders are too big; I look like a football player.”

“No, you don’t. You’re being melodramatic.”

“Really, though, I think it’s too big for me.”

“Well, if you don’t like it, we can sell it on eBay. Surely someone on there would buy a fur coat. And this one is in perfect shape.”

The coat sold on eBay for forty dollars. “Not a bad profit,”
Norah’s mom said.

A few weeks later, Norah headed to the grocery store. She grabbed her items and got in line behind a man and a woman. The woman, who was wearing a white fur coat, turned around as Norah came up. She pointed at Norah’s black leather boots. “Oh, I adore your shoes,” she said

Norah smiled. “Thanks. I like your coat. It’s really nice. Actually, it kind of looks like a coat I sold on eBay not too long ago.”

The woman clasped her hands together and turned in the direction of her companion. “Thanks so much. My boyfriend got it for me for my birthday. He said he got it at Saks Fifth Avenue.”

“It really does look a lot like the one I sold on the net.”

The man turned around now. “Well, it’s not.”

The woman frowned. “George, there’s no point in being rude to the girl. Maybe she got the coat she sold from Saks, too.”

“Not exactly,” Norah laughed. “I picked it up at a yard sale for two dollars.”

George glared at Norah for a few moments, and then turned around.

The woman rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what his problem is today,” she said. “Please excuse him.”

“Stop making excuses for me, Cindy!” said George.

“What? You’re being rude to the nice girl.”

“She’s making such a big deal about this looking like the coat she sold on the net, and you already told her that I got this one at Saks.”

“She hasn’t done anything of the sort. You’re the one making a big deal about this. Why?”

“What do you mean?”

Cindy pointed at George. “Maybe you’re making a big deal because you really didn’t buy this coat at Saks Fifth Avenue. Maybe you really bought this coat on the internet, and that’s why you are being so uptight.”

“Oh, please. You’re so suspicious. Why would I lie to you about where I bought your coat?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find out.” Cindy turned to Norah. “Was there anything special about the coat you sold? Anything that could help you identify it?”

Norah raised her eyebrows a little. “Um, I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal...”

“Well, I do.”

“There was a little tear in the lining of the right sleeve. My mom sewed it, but you would still be able to see a few stitch marks. But only if this is the coat I sold.”

Cindy took the coat off and turned the arm inside out. “Where would the tear have been?”

Norah stepped a little closer and pointed to a spot near the shoulder. “About here.”

“And what do you know, there are stitch marks there. My compliments to your mother; she did a good job. So this is the same coat you sold. How much did it sell for?”

“Forty dollars.”

Cindy turned to George and glared. “Forty dollars. And you took fifteen hundred dollars out of our bank account and said that you had used it on my birthday present.”

George stepped forward. “Uh, Cindy, let me explain...”

“I think I’ve figured it out,” Cindy continued. “You lied to me about the coat. What else did you lie to me about? That business trip you took two weeks ago....it wasn’t really a business trip, was it? You said you spent that money on my present, but really, you used it to have a good time. And you didn’t really go by yourself, did you? I should have known. It’s Lena, isn’t it? You two aren’t through.” Norah listened, wide-eyed.

“You know there’s nothing between her and me,” George said. “You’ve got to believe me,” he said, and placed a hand on Cindy’s arm.

“Don’t touch me!” Cindy said, flinging George’s hand off. “You’re getting together with your old girlfriend behind my back. You’re using my money to go on trips with her. You’re lying to me about it. Well, we’re through, George. I’m not doing this any more. Get out of my life.”

“Cindy, you don’t mean that. Just because of a little tear in the sleeve of the coat...”

“That little tear was enough to unravel all of your lies.” Cindy turned to Norah. “Thank you. I needed to find this out.” Then she turned and walked out of the store. George stared as she walked out, and then ran after her.

After Norah paid for her items and went home, she told the story to her mom. “I think that fur coat may have cause more trouble for him than it was worth.”

“Actually,” said her mom, “it was the lies that caused him more trouble than they were worth.”