THE LITTLE LIE

Far, far away, in a land when the wind blew in gusts over green sloping hills and the sea bashed
joyfully on the rocks, lived a little boy called Luca. Luca lived in a lighthouse, with no windows
save from one at the very top, where his bedroom was, and where the lamp let out its glare to tell
the ship that it was there. There was not very much to read at lighthouse. And it was not easy to
read either, especially when you want to read in your bedroom. Because in the day time the
window was taken up by the large lamp, and the sun found is hard to get in. in the night-time,
Luca could only read a word every few seconds, when the lamp would swish its way past, and
everything would go blinding for a moment.
But, Luca loved reading, and so he did best. He went outside and read in the garden, though the
weather was blustery, and the wind would turn the pages before he could. He read in the kitchen,
too, by the light from the oven, when his mother was cooking jellyrolls and casseroles. In this
way, Luca read all four books in the lighthouse. And when he had finished, he read them again.
Yet living in a lighthouse with only four books is no life for a small boy who loved to read. His
parents misunderstood his yearning and thought only that he might be lonely. And so, they met a
little girl who lived in a passing submarine, they invited her in to play with him. The little girl
was called Lily. She loved to read too. Bu there is not much room for books in submarines. She
had only one book about the tides, because her father thought that if they could only fit one book
into submarine, it was useful to have book that two people could read. Lily loved that book. It
had green cover, and it had marks on it because she carried it everywhere.
Today Lily appeared at the door to the lighthouse, clutching the book beneath her arm. “Hello,”
She said.” Hello,” Luca replied. They looked at each other for a long while, Luca in the doorway
and Lily on the step.” Are you going to invite her in?” said Luca’s mother. And so he did. Once
they had eaten, Luca showed Lily his upstairs room. He showed her how the light spun on its
base, and lit up the whole of the sea. He showed her his four books. Lily liked looking at Luca’s
four books, but she did not show Luca her own book, which she kept tightly pressed beneath her
arm. Luca wanted to ask her to look at it, but he did not know how to ask.
At that moment, a huge commotion appeared on the horizon. Ii was a storm! A big, dark storm,
striding across the whipped waves. Lily went very pale as she ran to the window. As she stood
against it looking out, she was so worried that the book slipped from under her arm and fell upon
the cushions on the floor. But Lily didn’t notice.” I have to go!” she cried. “Mama and papa are
in the submarine!” she ran down the stairs all the way to the bottom, and then sprinted across the
lawn. Luca watched her little red shoes flying behind her as the storm came in. but although the
storm was wild outside his window, Luca felt something very calm and quiet inside. Because
Luca had seen when Lily dropped the book. But for some reason, Luca hadn’t told her, although
he could have. He just thought, it wouldn’t be so bad if he could borrow the book for a while.
Lily wouldn’t mind. It was just a book.
The storm has passed. The sea was bleached and lank, as though tired. Night fell early, and Luca
didn’t tell his parents about the book. “Did you have a good time with Lily?” they asked him.
“yes,” Luca said. “What did you do up there in your bedroom?” they asked. “we looked at the
lamp,” he said. Luca said a little lie. It wasn’t something very bad. He just didn’t want his
parents to know that he had read books with Lily because they might ask about her book. He
didn’t want them to know about Lily’s book, because they might tell him to take it back “Shall
we read one of your books tonight, before you go to bed?” asked his parents. “No” Said Luca.
“I’m feeling tired.” But Luca wasn’t feeling tired. That was another little lie. He wanted to read
the book. He went back to his bedroom and read one words every time the lamp flashed past. By
midnight he was very tired, and had only read one third of the book. But what a wondrous book!
He had never known so many things about the tides! When they came in, and when they went
out. What moon brought what creatures, and what swell could take you to Germany or guinea.
As he turned each page, Luca realized that he never wanted to give the book back. He could see
why Lily loved it.
Yet he next morning he was very, very tired. He got up out of bed very late. His parents were
surprised to see him so sleepy. “Lily came past.” They told him. “she asked if she left her book
here.” Luca felt blood rush to his face, but it felt like the word came by themselves. “No,” he
said. “I haven’t seen a book.” That was the biggest little lie, and it felt like they were coming one
on top of the other ne now, like the waves in a storm.
The next night Luca intended to do the same thing as the first night. He snuck into his bedroom
and read Lily’s book. The words were as wonderful as ever. But this time, something felt a little
different in Luca, too. He felt strange when he turned each page. He kept imagining Lily in her
submarine, floating in the water, gazing at the black roof with no words on it. How lonely she
must feel without her special book. And now Luca had five. The following morning the feeling
inside him had grown, and it felt like a big hard lump in his belly. As big and hard as the
beautiful book he had stolen. And that heavy feeling felt bad, and he couldn’t shake it off. It
followed him and make his feet drag. It made his smile feel strange when he smiled at his
parents, and his eyes sting, as though he was opening them too wide or not wide enough.
As the day passed, Luca slowly knew what he had to do. He felt very sorry that he had not told
anyone that e had the book. He didn’t know why he had done it. But Lily’s book belonged to
Lily. He picked the book up, walked all the way to the submarine, and asked if he could speak to
her. And when Lily popped up the porthole, her face red and sad from crying and missing her
book, he gave to Lily her book back. “I had it all along,” he said. “I wanted to read it. But I
didn’t tell the truth when you asked if I had it.” “I’m sorry.” It was very hard to say those words
to Lily. It made him feel ashamed of himself, even though he didn’t know why he had done it.
He worried that Lily would think he was unkind. But instead Lily’s face beamed as she
embraced her book once more. “what a lovely thing to tell the truth,” she said.” That must have
been very hard for you. Thank you, Luca” and Luca suddenly felt as tall as his lighthouse. “shall
we read the book together?” Lily asked. And Luca and Lily became, from that day forwards, the
very best of friends.