Failure in Truths:
A short story of a childs discovery of the meaning of truth.

Failure in truths

A young only child boy sits in a park eyeing the other children.
They run and play, laughing, gaming, and acting out fantasies that they see as real.
Tommy is the leader; after all it is his ball.
When he kicks it, all the others run, like a game master he controls the action.
A kick to the left and all run left, if I control the ball they all chase me.
“Me”, the center of attention, it feels good to have them chase me.
The young boy observes the basic rules of life and notes the interactions.
Hmmm, If it’s my ball, I say what game we play and who plays; everyone wants to play with me.
“Me, its really all about me, isn’t it”?
The next day the boy returns with a shinny new ball.
It’s presented to all the children but there is little interest.
Everyone is interested in listening to Tommy tell his vacation story and not the new shinny ball.
He sits holding his shinny new prize but no one plays. He tries to distract them by teasing one of the girls.
They proclaim, “Tommy is so interesting, be silent and let us listen.”
The boy sits, watching the faces, expressions of intrigue, captivation, praise for the story and Tommy is the center of attention.
Who cares about his stupid story, probably is not even true , No one has a vacation like that.
As soon as Tommy finishes the boy jumps to his feet.
Hey, I have a story????? He tells them about his trip to the zoo, only he has never been to the Zoo. In his mind his Conjhunce toys with the moment.
Its not really a lie, I did watch it on TV and they will never know?
The children are captivated, he is the center of attention and it feels good.
Lies, what makes them wrong? Its not like it hurts them, they laugh and enjoyed the story and I’m the center of attention.
It feels so good having them like me and its like I’m smarter than they are, I’m in control.
That night a program on Egypt is on and tomorrow’s story is already being created.
When they all meet at the park the next day, the story unfolds.
Last summer I went to Egypt with my father, he took me to the pyramids.
Oh Johnny, yells the little girl, You don’t have a Father, he moved away along time ago and your mother and Grand mother is all you have.
“But he came to visit and took me away on vacation”.
"Liar, liar," proclaims the girl. "I live in the same house as you and no one has ever come to take you anywhere".
The children all get up and walk away laughing leaving Johnny alone.



Page 2

Like a burning knife it hurts to be alone, rejected, no attention and few friendships.
Maybe if I go to another park no one will know and I can make the story better? It worked the first time and it felt good to have them like me.
So more stories are created but it ends the same. Its impossible to remember all the lies because each time the stories get better and the tales get longer.
Soon Johnny has a hard time telling the truth from the stories. His life is so boring and the stories are so interesting. It gets easier to lie but hard to remember the lies.
Everyday the others scorn him in his neighborhood; he sits alone in the park, branded.
Sitting, watching, reliving the moment, trying to find away back and start a new.
But no one listens; no one plays with Johnny.
Johnny lives in that town all his life, growing older but never really connecting with the others. It seems no one remembers that day in the park except Johnny but an opinion has been formed and few friends are at the table of a lair.
No one seems to want to hear what Johnny says about anything.

Would his life have been different if that story was never told?
Would he be happier just being himself?
Lies, be get lies, be get more lies and in the end no one listens.
The strongest prisons are created with ones own tongue.


Maxi / The Secret Poet