Maria was a little girl, who lived in Africa. She was cute and chirpy, and her parents loved her very much.
Maria’s parents had taught her good manners. She was taught never to lie or cheat.
When the summer came, Maria turned eight.
Her parents encouraged her to go out and play with kids from the neighbourhood.
“You need to make some friends now,” said her father.
Maria was happy, as she had always wanted to have friends.
On the morning of her birthday, her father gave her a special homemade candy.
She nibbled into the candy.
“This is so delicious,” she told her father.
“I will make a fresh one for you every morning,” said her father.
Maria hugged her father and rushed out, holding the candy in her right hand.
In the park outside, children from the neighbourhood were chasing each other and having fun.
As Maria entered the park, a little girl came to greet her. Seeing the candy in Maria’s hand, she asked for a piece of it.
Maria gave a portion of the candy to the girl. The girl liked the candy so much that she asked for a little more. Maria was left with only half of the candy.
When they went to play together, Maria was upset that she had to share her special candy with the little girl.
The next morning more kids waited for Maria as they also wanted to taste the candy.
This time, only a small piece of candy was left for Maria. Having almost no candy left for herself made her upset.
When her father gave her a fresh candy the next morning, Maria hid it in her room.
She did not go to the park that day. Not seeing her in the park, the neighbourhood kids came looking for her.
“I am not well. I cannot come out to play,” Maria lied to them.
“But can we have the candy?” asked one of the kids.
“My father didn’t make me any today,” Maria lied again.
When the kids left, she savoured the candy.
After some time, however, she fell sick.
Her parents came to check on her, and found her in pain. Her mother immediately called a doctor.
“Too much candy has made her sick. You have to stop giving her the candy,” the doctor said.
The thought of not getting the candy to eat every morning made Maria cry. Then, she explained the whole thing to her parents.
Her father was upset that his daughter had lied.
He said: “I had taught you to never lie. Had you not lied, you would not have fallen sick.”
“I have learned my lesson,” said Maria, and promised her father that she would never lie again.
Her father forgave her.
