Mrs Burnside lived just across the road from Sally and Sally’s mother. Sally was four. Sally loved to visit Mrs Burnside or, rather, she loved to visit Mrs Burnside’s cat.
“I’d like to have a cat one day,” said Sally, “but mummy says it costs too much to feed.” Sally’s mother had no money; just none at all. She struggled.
One day, Mrs Burnside was chatting. “Does Sally have a cat?” she asked.
“No,” said Sally’s mother.
“Oh, that’s a pity,” said Mrs Burnside. “I always have too much cat food, and I hate to see it go to waste. You should get a cat.”
“I suppose we could,” said Sally’s mother. And that’s what they did. They got a beautiful, grey, fluffy kitten that Sally called Freckles, even though it didn’t have any.
Every week, Sally got the spare cat food for Freckles. And every week Mrs Burnside accidentally bought twice as much as needed.