the truth about lies

名称：the truth about lies
内容简介：
Dear Arizona,
　 Some kids at my camp play guitar, and I accidentally told them I play guitar, too. Now they keep asking when we’re going to jam together. I didn’t mean to lie, but now that I did, how do I get out of it?
　 —Fibber in Florida

Dear Fibber,
　 I’ve always thought of myself as an honest person, but something happened a couple of months ago that was super-close to what happened to you.

It started when I ran into my neighbor Rosy, who was walking her adorable dog, Charlie.

“Oh, you’re so sweet,” I said, scratching Charlie’s head. “I wish, wish, wish I had a dog like you!”

“You know what?” said Rosy. “I could really use some help walking Charlie. Would you like to take him down to the park on the corner once in a while? I’d be happy to pay you for your trouble.”

“I’d love to!” I answered. “I go to that park all the time anyway.”

“Wonderful!” said Rosy. “How about you and your mom give me a call, and we’ll work out the details?”

As soon as I got home, I told my mom the news, then we called Rosy. We worked out the safety stuff, and I agreed to pick up Charlie on Saturday at 2:00.

When Saturday at 2:00 finally arrived, I don’t know who was more excited to go to the park—Charlie or me!

I know I’m taking a while to get to the point of this story. That’s partly because I’m trying to explain how happy I was about walking Charlie—and partly because I’m embarrassed about what ended up happening.

When we got to the park, two boys from my class, Luke and Noah, were there. I’d seen them in the park once in a while but had never hung out with them.

Anyway, their soccer ball rolled in my direction, and I was about to kick it back when Charlie started pushing and chasing it. No matter how hard I pulled on his leash, I couldn’t get him to stop.

“That’s the coolest dog I’ve ever seen!” said Luke.

“How’d you teach him to play soccer like that? He knows exactly what to do!” said Noah.

I should have just said “He’s not mine. I’m walking him for my neighbor.”

But what I actually said was “I didn’t have to teach him. I guess Charlie’s a natural athlete.”

“You’re so lucky! I’d give anything to have a dog like that!” Luke said, kicking the ball to Charlie. Charlie rolled it right back.

“I guess I am lucky,” I said. “Well, um, we have to get going.”

Luke said, “You and your dog should come kick the ball around with us every Saturday.”

“Uh, yeah, OK. See you,” I said. Here’s where it got complicated. Rosy was glad that Charlie was getting more exercise, and my parents liked that I was helping our neighbor and saving the money I was making, so I got to keep my dog-walking job. And whenever we saw Noah and Luke kicking the soccer ball around at the park, Charlie loved joining in.

It should have been easy to admit to them that Charlie wasn’t my dog, but they kept saying how lucky I was to have a dog like Charlie, and it seemed easier just to play along.

Before I knew it, a whole month had gone by, and I hadn’t told the truth. The longer I waited, the harder it was to tell. I started feeling so stressed out and guilty that I seriously considered quitting my dogwalking job just so I wouldn’t have to deal with the situation.

But, dear Fibber, reading your letter made me realize what I had to do! Yesterday when I took Charlie to the park, I crossed all my fingers and toes, hoping that Luke and Noah wouldn’t think I was a terrible person, and I told them the truth.

“That’s kind of strange that you lied about that,” said Noah.

“Yeah,” said Luke. “We don’t care who owns Charlie. We just think he’s an awesome dog.”

If I’d known it was going to be that easy, I would have admitted the truth forever ago!

So, dear Fibber, my advice is to come clean right away. Maybe just tell your friends that you weren’t being completely honest about knowing how to play guitar. You could tell them that what you really meant to say was that you want to learn. They’ll probably still let you hang out with them and listen to them jam, and you could even start taking lessons.

And the next time you’re tempted to tell a fib, try to remember how much trouble you’ll save yourself if you just stick to the facts instead. (That’s what I plan to do—honestly!)