to think this is so strange - present gone missing!

[whereismycandle]

Have name changed but frequent poster.

It was my birthday on Sunday & last week (Tuesday) I saw my best friend very briefly and she gave me my present to open on the day. I opened it on Sunday and she had bought me a nice box of chocolates – lovely, I like chocolates. Anyway I text her to say a generic thank you she text back have a lovely day – all’s well and I good. But I’ve just spoken to her and she didn’t get me chocolates. She bought me a very ‘naice’ candle.

How weird is that. She has absolute no reason to lie – we’ve know each other forever and don’t have ‘expectations’ in the sense that sometimes we spend a lot, sometimes we don’t. I asked if it could have got mixed up with someone else’s present and no, she had no other birthdays going on. The strangest part is the gift bag and wrapping paper were exactly what she had wrapped the candle in – but it was chocolates.

What the hell has happened to the candle? We had a laugh about it but honestly, it’s so weird!!

[CBA2RTFT]

There are so many of these random, riddle threads on Mumsnet at the moment. Always a very unlikely occurrence that couldn’t possible be true that we’re lead to believe must have a feasible explanation

And I suspect some of those penny a dozen self-published thrillers on Kindle feature those self-same riddles in their storylines, and the genius solution was actually thought out by a random MNer rather than the lazy, talentless author!

[MrsRespoDad]

I wish I had nice things popping up. All I get are adverts for incontinence pads.

[Barracker]

Of course, I've had multiple adverts for Neon candles popping up in my FB and Twitter feeds since this thread, so if this was a product placement thread for free targeted advertising based on thread keywords it did the job beautifully.

[Shortyboo]

There are so many of these random, riddle threads on Mumsnet at the moment. Always a very unlikely occurrence that couldn’t possible be true that we’re lead to believe must have a feasible explanation and let’s all try to figure it out! All complete BS of course

[dayswithaY]

And to add to the mystery the OP has also disappeared!

[Emilizz34]

This thread is one of the most nonsensical things that I’ve ever read on MN. Friend was adamant that she bought and wrapped a candle and did not buy chocolates. However the wrapped gift turned out to be chocolates and the candle was no where to be found .
19 pages later , friend miraculously finds the candle .
Yeah right ....

[DesertSky]

It’s obvious. She had the candle and contemplated giving it to you. Last minute she decided to give the chocolates (as it was a cheaper gift). When she spoke to you she accidentally mentioned the candle and put her foot in it. When you dug deeper she put on a whole spiel re sniffing candle before wrapping etc and tried to act as confused as you. As the mystery continued, she felt she had to concoct story she found it at home and it was all a mix up.

[user1467718508]

I had a sniff of The Candle yesterday. It's v.naice.

[TeabagTelepathy]

I hate that I read this whole thread and actually care

[Polkapjs]

Someone is lying either by omission or deliberately but I’m not worried - it was entertaining!

[Larrythecat]

Bluntness, friend could be regifting the chocolates without having paid much attention at the actual brand, or could have bought teh chocolates from one of the supermarkets and shops that sell them, without having gone to a Hotel Chocolat shop. I do think the friend is not 100% honest but out of embarrassment, as she mixed up the presents or changed mind about the candle, but by enquiring about it she was forced to pretend to save face and eventually bought one to put an end to this (pretending she has found it).

[Bluntness100]

Oh so the friend who has never bought hotel chocolat or had any in her home, simply wrapped the wrong gift and it was something she swore she'd never had?

Right.

[Workreturner]

I really wonder about these OPs

They really must lead such sad empty lives to post such nonsense

[Aus84]

Ok then, new therory. She bought the candle and then at the last second decided she wanted to keep it, too late to buy another present so regift a box of chocolates. Maybe had a glass or two which explains the poor wrapping. She then forgot about the switcheroo and and mentioned the candle, tried to brush it off but you wouldn’t let it go as it was playing on your mind so she had to give it up and ‘find’ the candle.

[Port1ajazz]

Ha ha ha you got some good mileage out of this , maybe it's the beginning of a " let's see who can get the longest thread running " about minutiae ! Great scenarios and imaginative answers .

[Worieddd]

Oh. Really.

[yorkrose]

So disappointing, I thought I had solved your mystery.

The dog ate the candle, candle smelt of chocolate when dog breathed or other! Dog walker panicked, took muddy feet off and replaced with chocs with what was left of gorgeous wrapping paper!

[xwhoiamx]

One of 2 things has happened here:

1. Marketing ploy - OP realises she is rumbled and her continued silence is rousing further suspicion, so posts a quick, ill-thought through 'resolution' to 'prove' she was genuine.

1. @larrythecat is spot on, friend swapped the gift for some reason and momentarily forgot on the phone and enquired about the candle, too embarrassed to admit the swap she spun a tale about having wrapped the candle and having never ever bought HC chocolates, ever, honest guv.

[ferretface]

Your friend probably regifted. The best before on the chocolates being close and/or it being a seasonal selection which doesn't appear to be currently available would be strong pointers in this regard (but they do have permanent ranges so not conclusive)

I feel a bit sorry for your friend as probably the only reason the candle has now appeared is because there's been a big fuss about it and chocolates are a perfectly nice gift, even if regifted, and even if a gift is totally crap, it's the gesture that counts....who knows, maybe she needs to save money?

[Angelil]

Sounds like she regifted and was too embarrassed to say...

[Failingat40]

Well done @whereismycandle I hope you're on commission. We'd have to be beyond stupid to spend £45 on a candle.

[Onecutefox]

We need to call Mr Hercule Poirot to solve the mystery

[Onecutefox]

Either the friend had changed her mind or wrapped the present while sleep walking but changing her mind doesn't make sense as she didn't tell the OP what was in the present. She had found out about it during a phone call. But then she doesn't remember where did she get the sweets from.

[Onecutefox]

I had a friend who used to say something like, "I have got this for you, must remember to give it to you next time I see you." I would never see those things and it happened a few times.

[Larrythecat]

I see, CBA, I forgot about that.
Then... Friend bought candle as present for OP and chocolates with the grocery at another time. Some minor event was happening on the same week and she decided to wrap the chocolates and gift them. She was in a rush (hence bad wrapping). Candle into one gift bag, chocolates into another. Only that in the same rush, she took the candle to that other event. By the time she realised, she was embarrassed and pretended not to know, hoping it would go away. Presents had already been given so she was waiting for everyone to shrug it off. Once she read the thread, she realised how much of a big deal it was for OP to find out. So she bought another candle and pretended to play surprise.
Or she did indeed buy it for OP but other event came up for which she didn't have a present. She took the candle and hurrily wrapped the chocolates for OP. Later, on the phone, she forgot for a moment that she had swapped the presents and asked OP about the candle. OP mentioned the chocolates, friend was "fckfckityfck" and out of embarrassment pretended not to know what OP was talking about, mainly because the price difference was big and friend didn't want OP to think devalued with the present swap. Feeling a bit guilty, friend buys another candle and pretends to find it.

If she lives alone, there's less chance of misplacing items that were on sight at some point, since no one but her would have moved it. I definitely think friend bought a second candle and hence why it appeared only a couple of days later, despite a previous frantic search.