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Smelly poo
When my youngest sister was born, my parents decided to partition my big bedroom into two small bedrooms to give the little sister somewhere to sleep. The paper-thin partition wall meant that you could hear everything from one room in the other.

My little sister was 12 years younger than me, and being a good older brother, I looked after her and made sure she was okay. When she was still very young, she took to knocking on the partition wall if she couldn't sleep, and I'd go and read her a story or have a chat until she dropped off.

One evening, just after my mate Dave had come round for a two-player game of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, there was a knock on the wall from next door. I paused the game, and went to see what was up. In a sad but crystal clear voice, my sister pointed towards the floor and declared "There's a smelly poo in my potty, and it won't go away!" She was, of course, factually correct.

Having made the smelly poo go away, I returned to my room next door to find my mate Dave crying with laughter, and rolling on the floor clutching his sides. To this day, the phrase "there's a smelly poo in my potty and it won't go away" gets a regular outing whenever I meet with Dave.

My sister is now 21, and I haven't yet reminded her of this story. I figure she'll get married sooner or later, and these things are worth saving.
(Mon 29th Dec 2008, 23:01, More)