Sunday was Laila’s day off, and she intended to respect that sacred tradition by doing as little as humanly possible.
No errands.
No alarms.
No schedules.
And most importantly, no pants with buttons.
She had changed into her favorite lavender bunny pajamas sometime after breakfast and had been happily occupying the living-room couch ever since. A fluffy purple blanket was bunched around her legs, a half-finished cup of tea sat on the coffee table, and warm afternoon sunlight poured through the windows.
Even her cat had joined the unofficial Sunday laziness competition, curled into a little ball on the other end of the couch.
Laila was winning, though.
She was stretched out on her stomach with her bare feet hanging comfortably over the edge of the cushions, her cheek resting against her folded arms. She had originally planned to watch something on television, but somewhere between choosing a show and actually pressing play, her eyes had closed.
Five minutes became twenty.
Twenty became…
Well, Laila had stopped keeping track.
The apartment was wonderfully quiet.
Until—
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Laila’s eyes slowly opened.
For a few seconds, she remained completely still.
Maybe whoever it was would go away.
That was the dream.
Then came another knock.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
And suddenly a voice shouted from the hallway:
“OPEN UP! IT’S THE POLICE!”
Laila’s eyes shot wide open.
She lifted her head from the couch.
“The police?”
Her sleepy brain immediately began searching through everything she had done recently.
Had she forgotten to pay a parking ticket?
No.
Had she accidentally stolen something?
Definitely not.
Had eating the last slice of cheesecake at midnight finally become illegal?
Hopefully not.
Laila slowly pushed herself upright.
“What is going on?” she whispered.
For approximately three seconds, she genuinely tried to think of any possible reason the police would be visiting her on a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Then something occurred to her.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Wait a minute…”
The voice outside had sounded suspiciously young.
Very young.
Unless the police department had recently lowered its hiring age to eleven, something wasn’t adding up.
Another knock rattled the door.
“POLICE! OPEN THE DOOR!”
This time the voice cracked halfway through the word police.
Laila covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
“Oh, come on.”
Now she was curious.
She quietly climbed off the couch and tiptoed toward the front door, still wearing her bunny pajamas and looking considerably less intimidated than she had thirty seconds earlier.
She leaned toward the peephole.
And there they were.
Three kids standing in the hallway.
One boy was wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his forehead, apparently because that was his interpretation of official police attire. Another kid was standing behind him trying desperately not to laugh.
The third already looked like he regretted participating in the entire operation.
Laila pressed her lips together.
Outside, the boy in the cap whispered loudly:
“Do it again.”
His friend shook his head.
“No, you do it!”
“You're the police!”
“I was the police LAST time!”
Laila nearly burst out laughing.
This was possibly the least convincing undercover operation in human history.
She stayed perfectly quiet and continued watching through the peephole.
The boy in front cleared his throat and tried one more time.
“Ma’am! This is the police department!”
One of the other kids immediately started giggling.
“Dude, you sound like your grandma!”
“Shut up!”
Now Laila had to step away from the door because she was afraid they would hear her laughing.
She considered opening it and surprising them.
Then she had a better idea.
Laila lowered her voice as deeply as she possibly could.
“OFFICERS?”
The hallway went completely silent.
Three pairs of eyes widened.
Laila continued.
“I’VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU.”
The children stared at one another.
One whispered, “What does that mean?”
“I don't know!”
Laila struggled desperately to keep her voice serious.
“I HAVE ALREADY CONTACTED… THE REAL POLICE.”
There was a two-second pause.
Then chaos.
“RUN!”
Three pairs of sneakers thundered down the hallway.
Laila quickly looked through the peephole again just in time to see the little “police department” disappear around the corner.
She finally burst out laughing.
“Unbelievable.”
A few seconds later, one small face cautiously peeked around the corner at the far end of the hallway.
Laila opened the door just enough to stick her head out.
“I can still see you!”
The face vanished instantly.
More running.
Laila shook her head, smiling as she closed the door.
She returned to the couch, rearranged her blanket, and reclaimed her favorite comfortable position.
Her cat briefly opened one eye as though asking what all the commotion had been about.
“Don't ask,” Laila told him. “Apparently I've been under police investigation.”
The cat closed its eye again.
Very supportive.
Laila rested her head against the pillow and smiled to herself.
Those kids had tried the same sort of nonsense before. Doorbell ringing, strange noises outside her window, once even leaving a mysterious cardboard box outside her door that contained nothing except a handwritten note saying:
BOO.
She had to admit, though…
They were getting creative.
She pulled the fluffy blanket closer and settled back into her cozy afternoon.
Just before closing her eyes again, Laila sighed dramatically.
“These kids are going to make me grow white hair sooner than expected.”
She paused.
Then smiled.
“Although… I have to admit that was pretty funny.”
From somewhere down the hallway came the faint sound of children laughing.
Laila opened one eye.
“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your victory.”
And with that, she went straight back to enjoying the most important responsibility of her day off:
Doing absolutely nothing.
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