Rusty – The Liar

Rusty – The Liar

In a huge green forest, there lived a wicked little fox called Rusty. He always had the thought that no other animal in the forest could be as talented as him. Rusty had the habit of boasting about himself to other little animals, even to his own sister, Mia.

“I’m stronger than our lion king and wiser than our old turtle,” Rusty said with pride.

Though Rusty was small in size compared to the lion, he lied to everyone that he had once defeated the lion by himself. This was one of the stories he made up to make the other animals believe that Rusty was far better than others.

As Rusty was walking along the bushes, he saw his sister Mia trying to reach the top of a tree to see the full view of the forest. Seeing her trying, Rusty laughed and said,

“Poor Mia, you’re not a giraffe! You can never reach the treetop. See how small you are!”

Mia turned toward Rusty with anger and said, “You’re short too!”

Rusty, who always liked to lie and boast about himself, replied, “Hey Mia, you know what? I have a secret. I can actually climb this tall tree, but my superpowers only work at night.”

Mia, knowing that her brother was a liar, rolled her eyes and left the place silently.

Jumpy, the monkey, who had been noticing all the acts of Rusty, had a sincere concern toward him. Jumpy wanted to warn Rusty and make him stop lying and boasting to other animals. He worried that Rusty’s lies would cause him harm in the future.

“Rusty!” Jumpy called from the tall tree.

Rusty looked up with disgust as he knew what Jumpy would say.

“Rusty, you first lied about your strength, telling others that you had defeated the lion king, and now you lied about climbing trees. Please be honest about who you are,”Jumpy said before Rusty interrupted him.

“I know what I should do!” Rusty yelled and walked away.

One night, as Rusty was walking alone, he heard footsteps nearing him. Nervously, he turned around but saw nothing. Again, he heard someone roaring from the big bushes. There emerged a huge figure—it was the lion of the neighboring forest! Rusty was afraid to see a lion face-to-face.

Hearing Rusty’s stories that he could defeat a lion, the lion of the other forest had come to fight with Rusty.

It was the middle of the night, and Rusty could call no one as all the animals were sleeping. Rusty ran as fast as he could, but the lion chased him all the way.

“Come on, Rusty, fight with me!”the lion shouted from behind.

Rusty reached the tall tree. He tried to climb up for safety but couldn’t.

“Haha! I heard you can climb trees at night, but what happened now?”the lion of the other forest said with a cunning smile.

The lion moved forward towards Rusty. Rusty cried out in fear. Suddenly, Leo, the lion king of the forest where Rusty lived, jumped over the other lion.

“Rusty, stay away!” Leo shouted.

Leo fought with the other lion and chased him away.

“I’m sorry, Leo. I shouldn’t have lied,” Rusty said, feeling bad for his actions. If Leo hadn’t come on time, something terrible could have happened to Rusty.

“Rusty, never lie for any cause. Be truthful in whatever you do. Accept who you are! The lies that we speak today will affect us in the future, so don’t!”Leo gently advised.

Rusty understood that it was important to be honest in every situation. He realized how his lies could cause harm in the future. He decided never to lie again. Rusty thanked Leo for his help and started to live as a truthful, good little fox.

-EJ