Phone Gnome

Story Sent in by Wade:

I was enjoying a picnic lunch with Theresa. I had to use a restroom and there was a public one a short jog away. As I stood up she said, "Leave your phone."

When I gave her the why-should-I-leave-my-phone look, she explained, "I want to do something funny. I promise you'll like it."

She and I had a good relationship up until that point and there was no reason for me to doubt her. I wanted to show that I trusted her and so I handed her my phone and I jogged for the bathroom. I was expecting a funny new wallpaper or maybe she'd lock me out of my phone and make me guess the passcode until it stopped being funny.

When I returned she was gone.

I'd have called her, but hey. I looked around for her for a while, but she had truly vanished. The only thing I could do was roll up the blanket and return to my apartment, where my roommate let me borrow his phone to call her. It went to voicemail, and I left her a message asking her to either return my phone or expect a visit from the police.

When I didn't hear back from her after a reasonable amount of time, I took a walk to the local police station and filed a report. It must have been a slow day for them, as within a couple of hours, they called my roommate's phone to inform me that they had recovered my phone in good condition. I went down to the station to retrieve it, and I never heard from Theresa the thief again.