Lying Anna

“Anna, one of these days all these lies will get you in a lot of trouble,” warned Mom for the hundredth time.

But did Anna listen? No. Eight-year old Anna just shook her head full of dark curls defiantly and went on telling lies. She told lies when she did not have to. She told lies even when telling the truth would be a lot easier.

“Anna is that my magic eraser you are using?” asked Samantha, her best friend. “Did you take it from my pencil case without asking?”

“No, it’s not yours.” replied Anna, as she continued erasing. “It’s mine.” 

“No it’s not. My name is written on it,” responded Samantha angrily. 

Samantha knew that Anna was lying and that made her very mad. She did not want to be Anna’s friend anymore. Actually, everyone was tired of Anna’s lies. Her classmates complained to the teacher and the teacher complained to her mother and her mother complained to her father but no one knew what to do about it. 

Till one day when everything came to a head. Anna was playing with her Frisbee in her back yard. She threw the Frisbee so hard that it went flying over the fence onto the dirt path which ran behind the house. She opened the small garden gate and went to retrieve the disc. She had never gone out this way before and she found herself in a field of wild mushrooms that had sprouted all over. Anna soon realized that these were no ordinary mushrooms. They were all in different colors and had different patterns. Some had red tops with white polka dots, others had blue top with purple stripes; there were yellow ones with orange diamonds and black ones with silver stars. 

Anna’s eyes lit up in fascination and she reached down and touched the black one. Ah, it felt as soft as velvet. Then, to her amazement, the silver stars started to twinkle and the mushroom started to grow big and was soon bigger than her. Soon all the mushrooms started to grow. Anna could not tell if the mushrooms were growing bigger or if she was growing smaller but everything looked gigantic to her. She realized that they weren’t actually mushrooms, they were houses with windows and doors and smoking chimneys. 

She wondered who would live in a place like this? And then she saw him, a pixie wearing a red sweater and green leggings, riding a bicycle, which had a basket, attached to the front handle. He was pushing down on the pedals fast. He seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

Tring, tring… he rang the bell. The astounded Anna could not move out of the way fast enough, so the pixie, trying to avoid her, collided with the tree. All the stuff fell out of his basket, the freshly baked bread, the marmalade and a very delicious looking cupcake. 

“Ouch,” he screamed in pain, rubbing his bruised knees. “Why did you not move out the way human girl, did you not hear me ring the bell?” 

“No, I did not,” lied Anna, though she had heard it loud and clear. “Here I can help you with your stuff.” 

While the pixie was busy rubbing his bruised knees and hollering in pain, Anna picked up the bread and the marmalade. And then she saw the cupcake, it simply looked delicious and her mouth started to salivate. She just had to take a bite. So she took a teeny bite, hoping it would not be noticed. 

It tasted of fresh strawberries that had been covered in chocolate and fresh cream, and it melted in her mouth. She had never eaten anything as delicious before. She took another bite and then another. Before she knew it, she had eaten the entire cupcake. What was she going to do now? She hoped the pixie would not notice!

“Here pixie, I’ve picked up all your stuff,” said Anna.

“Where is the cupcake I baked for the wizard’s birthday?” replied the pixie knitting his brows as he looked around.

“I did not see any cupcake,” lied Anna. “Maybe you left it at home.”

“I did not leave it at home! What is that around your mouth?” asked the pixie stomping his foot angrily. “Is that icing? Are those strawberries stain? Did you eat the cupcake?”

“No, I did not,” said Anna as she hastily wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“You are lying, and I refuse to take blame for the missing cupcake.  You will come along with me and you will confess to the wizard about eating his cupcake,” said the pixie as he grabbed Anna by her arm.

Anna tried to fight him off but realized that she was too small and that her hands and feet had pins and needles so she was not able to get away from him. The pixie picked her up and put her in the basket of his bicycle and then rode straight into the midst of the mushroom houses. They rode for what seemed like hours but in reality it was only a few minutes. By now Anna was starting to feel very frightened and she started to sob, she missed her mother and her father and also her best friend Samantha a lot. She wondered if they were all missing her too and were looking for her.

The pixie rode down a winding dirt path till he reached a forbidding castle with a moat around it. Tring, tring… he rang his bell and the drawbridge came down. He rode through the bridge and Anna could see that some elves and fairies and foxes and hares were preparing for a feast. 

“What’s happening?” asked Anna always so curious.

“It’s the wizard’s birthday and we are throwing him a party,” replied the pixie as he parked his bicycle against the castle wall.

Anna forgot all about the cupcake and felt excited for she loved parties. They walked to where everyone was collected. There was a table set with sandwiches and chips, donuts covered with sprinkles and rainbow flavored cotton candy, there was fruit punch and lemonade. Anna could not wait to eat all the good stuff.  On another table was a heap of presents wrapped in colorful wrapping paper. There were balloons and streamers floating in the air and music was playing. Everyone was having a wonderful time. 

Then came the wizard looking so handsome, dressed in a shiny black suit, his pointy black hat had the golden sun and silver moon shining through it. Everyone cheered and sang. Soon it was time to cut the cake. But there was no cake.

“Hey where is my cake?” asked the wizard petulantly. “Pixie did you not bake me your special cupcake?”

The pixie looked crestfallen, he pointed to Anna and said “She ate the cupcake.” 

Everyone looked horrified! She ate the wizard’s cupcake!!

“No, I did not!” exclaimed Anna shaking her head. “It fell in the dirt.” 

Right after she uttered the lie, the wizard looked straight into her eyes and his deep black eyes flashed green, he muttered something under his breath. Everyone stood still, they were all petrified of the wizard’s temper and his spells, but to their delight he kept his temper in check. After all it was his birthday. 

Since no birthday party can be complete without a cake, the wizard pulled out his magic wand and created a huge cupcake that everyone got to share, even Anna who really should not have. 

“Tfos ih sl dulicesh,” exclaimed Anna, but wait what was happening? 

Anna’s words were making no sense. They sounded gibberish and no one in Mushroom Land understood gibberish, every time Anna spoke everyone just shook their head and walked away. 

At first she was perplexed at what was happening but then she got really scared. What if she could never talk normaly again! 

“Hkln md!” she begged the pixie who had brought her on the bicycle. 

But he could not understand her. Poor Anna maybe she should not have told all those lies! The thought of her mother and her father and Samantha never understanding her words made her very sad and she started to cry. The more she cried the more it put a damper on the rejoicing.

“Who is ruining my party?” asked the wizard in his loud booming voice. 

“I ag sh skotry,” wept Anna. “I pgumfxe whgf nwcdt lje ahson.”

Now the wizard knew gibberish as he often spoke it himself especially when he muttered his curses and spells so he understood what she just said. 

“I can see that you are truly sorry for all the lies you’ve told, and since it is my birthday and I am in a terrific mood, I am willing to remove the spell,” he said. “But there is a condition.” 

Anna was desperate to agree to anything, she only wanted to be able to speak normally again.

“If you ever lie again your words will turn to gibberish and nothing will be able to break that spell.”

“I promise I will never tell another lie,” said Anna crying and then laughing to hear normal words coming from her tongue. 

The grand birthday party was coming to an end and the pixie offered to give Anna a ride on his way back home. 

Since that strange day much to her mother and her father and everybody else’s surprise Anna has not told another lie. And if I were her I would not either!