Being only five-and-a half years old, Myriah Perkins did not know why she was called "first" runner up of the Little Miss Stoneybrook Pageant. How could you be "first" but not be the winner? And why was the little ballerina called the "second" runner up when she, Myriah, had been the one to come in second?
But did it really matter to her that much? Nah. The important thing was that she and her sister would be going to Toy City!
"I like being second runner up because I get new toys!" she told the reporter happily.
"No, sweetheart... you're the first runner up," the reported had tried to explain.
The newspaper, as a result of this interview, read: "'I like being [first] runner up because I get new toys," said Perkins.'"
Indeed, Myriah did enjoy her prize of a Toy City shopping spree. She and her sister, Gabbie, picked out matching baby dolls. Gabbie named her doll Beth and Myriah settled on the name of Brook, since she had won her doll because of the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant.
All was well until two weeks after the pageant. "NOT-so-Little Miss Stoneybrook," they called Sabrina Bouvier, the pageant's winner. The entire town was outraged! Who would have imagined that the little girl with the beehive hairdo who sang Moon River was actually thirteen years old?! And yet, she had managed to pass herself off as seven! The audacity of her parents! How could such a thing be overlooked? Hundreds of angry citizens wrote letters, even after the not-so-little pageant queen had been dethroned.
Soon after that, the Perkins family received some interesting mail - a $100 savings bond. The town newspaper came by the Perkins' home to take a picture. The reporter who had interviewed Myriah on the day of the pageant returned for more.
"First runner up means... you win first prize and second prize!" explained Myriah, with a toothless grin as she clutched her baby doll, crown, and $100 savings bond. "Oh, and a runner is something Mommy gets in her panty hose! Then she has to use nail polish to get it out."
Myriah Perkins was happy. And that was all that really mattered in the end.
As for Sabrina Bouvier... it was though it never happened.
Perhaps, she had probably hoped, people would think it was some other Sabrina Bouvier who lived in Stoneybrook.
(How's THAT for solving your mystery?)
Note: I am also the author of "The Mystery of Sabrina Bouvier." A recent post on babysittersclub (the livejournal community) inspired me to write another possible explanation for... the mystery of Sabrina Bouvier!