Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The Little Liar

Bakersfield was small picturesque town situated along the banks of the Rubicon river. The lands around the town were fertile and every variety of crop was grown there. So, naturally most of the residents of Bakersfield were farmers or belonged to it's' related fields.
The farmers lived simple but prosperous lives as their produce was of a high quality and fetched good prices in the big cities.

The community of Bakersfield was one big happy family and the town Sheriff  Mr Darcey constantly complained of his job being too boring. There were hardly any crimes and the crimes which did happen were of a harmless nature which got resolved easily.

This one time fat Andrew, son of the local butcher stole some chickens from Mrs Jody's the librarian's home and hid them in the wheat field nearby just to annoy her. She loved those chickens so she cried havoc everywhere and called the Sheriff. He therefore had to investigate this "crime" and resolve this issue. These were the typical crimes of Bakerfield.

Then there were the Lamberts. Mr Jhon Lambert was the High School principle who lived in a small beautiful house by the river with his wife Nancy and their 12 year old daughter Lillybeth.
The Lamberts were a typical small town family who knew everyone by name and had friendships with everyone. Though not poor by any means, they were not exactly rich. A high school principle's salary was nothing to write home about.

Lillybeth the daughter had always been a little weird and socially awkward. She did not have many friends in school and she mostly liked to spend her time reading books. She was not your typical girly girl who played with dolls and liked pretty pink dresses.
Though lovely and innocent mostly, sometimes she could be incredibly mean and spew a lot of harsh venom out of her big mouth. It was because of this that she didn't have many friends. Even her parents had disciplined her a few times.

Lillybeth did however have two of her most loyal and incredibly sweet friends who were really close to her. They were Yolanda and her nerdy cousin Sabrina. Both these girls hailed from the Mckaenzi clan.
The McKaenzis were one of the founding families of Bakersfield. They were also the largest land holders and naturally were the biggest farmers and most successful.

As time went on the bond between the girls grew stronger and stronger. The girls played, studied and created all kinds of mischief together. They were inseparable and therefore did not hide anything from each other.
Lillybeth had never been fond of pretty or expensive things. Plus the fact that her family weren't exactly swimming in cash meant that this frugal nature of her was super helpful for her parents.
While every other parent was busy trying to fulfill every ridiculous demand of their children, Lillybeth was content with her books and her simple dressing habits.

Overtime however, this frugality of Lillybeth had intensified and she had started to save her monthly allowance. Since her friends Yolanda & Sabrina's families were well off, Lillybeth had started to rely on them to pay off her share of all the expenses the girls did while on their frequent nights out.

Lillybeth frequently lied about not having the money and tried excusing herself from their activities, at which her friends always came through and paid for her share.
This behavior became a habit and eventually she stopped carrying any money with her whenever the girls went to do any kind of activity around the town.

One random weekend, the trio went to have a nice fancy dinner. Lillybeth as usual tagged along with her best friends empty handed. The restaurant had opened a month ago and it was a high class establishment. Their standard was top class and consequently the rates they were charging were higher than usual as well.
The girls ordered a big meal consisting of two courses along with desserts. It was a wonderful feast and Lillybeth felt so blissful as if she were having a dream. That dream however was short lived as Sabrina suddenly realized that she had forgotten her purse at home. She asked Yolanda if she had any money but she didn't like to carry a purse therefore all her money was in Sabrina's bag as well.

Lillybeth's heart was starting to drown as they had no money to pay the bill. She was starting to curse the day she decided to lie to her friends about her scarcity of funds. She was regretting it immensely but all her regret was of no use to them now.

The girls were halfway through the dessert and worried sick about how to pay.
In actuality it wasn't such a big deal as everyone knew who their parents were and the matter could be resolved easily but children are children and they get worried.

Lillybeth's head started to spin and she felt it becoming heavier and heavier. She could not take the pressure anymore. Eventually her guilt ridden tears overflowed from her big blue eyes. She confessed to being a big fat liar to her shocked friends and told them all about her made up stories about having no money.
Her friends were angry at a first and they scolded her for this cheap behavior. Eventually, they forgave her and decided to focus on how to get out of this predicament they were in at the moment.
Finally Lillybeth said 'I'll go talk to the manager and explain our situation'.

She went towards the reception with trembling legs where the manager was standing. She was about to address him when she heard a familiar voice from the side... 'Cheeky Lilly, what a pleasant surprise to see you here'. It was the voice of Mr Darcey, the town Sheriff who also happened to be a really close friend of Mr Lambert.

Upon seeing him it was as if life returned in Lilly's legs and she ran towards him. With teary eyes she explained her situation to Mr Darcey and he told her not to worry about a thing and go back to her friends.

With all their worries gone the girls returned home safely. All the weight of Lilly's lies were off her shoulders and she promised never to lie again.


Moral: Honesty is the best policy.