Honesty: Why Lying Isn't a Good Idea!

Tales from Neflental: Why Lies Are Not a Good Idea

In the heart of the Neftal valley, where gold and May green paint the world, our story begins. It is spring and the nightingale path glows in ivory and sky blue. Everywhere happy birds chirp from the dense hawthorn bushes. Flowers bloom in competition. A gentle breeze blows through the valley, as winter has just departed.

A special morning in the Neflental

On this day, Rosa Immergrün wakes up very early. The sun casts a golden light on the fern meadows. She hops along Nightingale Path, looking forward to the festival in the Glass Gorge. Everyone from the Neflental wants to gather there to laugh, sing, and tell stories.

The Great Secret

As Rosa Immergrün wanders through the blooming hawthorn bushes, she gathers beautiful stones for her friends. But suddenly she stops. A shiny marble lies under a hawthorn bush, in which the sunlight sparkles in all the colours of the rainbow. Rosa looks around, but no one is nearby. She picks up the marble and thinks: “To be honest, I have to give it back. But it's so beautiful! Maybe I'll just briefly notice how it glitters in the light.”

Excitedly, she runs to the Glass Gorge. Many have gathered there: Evergreens, Flossians, and even some White Elves from the palace by the waterfall. The gorge walls shimmer like ice, casting colourful stripes onto the meadows. Rosa feels the sparkle of the marble in her pocket.

A little lie at the sparkling canyon floor

Suddenly, Marlo from the book forest asks, “Has anyone seen my rainbow marble? It’s small, but so special because my grandpa gave it to me.” Everyone looks around in surprise. Rosa’s face grows warm. Her heart is hammering like a woodpecker because she knows the truth.

Rosa wants to keep the marble for herself because it sparkles so much. But when someone asks if she found the marble, she says, “No, I didn’t see anything.” After telling this lie, Rosa feels strange, and perhaps even a little sad.

The colours of the marble dance in her bag in the sunlight, and she notices that something is wrong. Her stomach rumbles, the Glass Gorge glistens more than ever, but Rosa can't feel any joy. The lie makes her feel heavy and sticky – like hard tree resin on her hands.

The Magic of Honesty

After a while, Rosa Periwinkle can no longer sit still. She plucks up all her courage. The nightingales sing above her as she slowly walks to Marlo. She takes the rainbow marble out of her pocket. “Here, Marlo, I found it,” she says quietly, “and I lied to you earlier. I'm sorry about that.”

Marlo looks at her in astonishment. Then, he smiles. The others look at Rosa curiously. Suddenly she feels a weight lift from her heart. Marlo says, “Thank you for being honest. I would have been very sad if I had lost the marble. But I'm glad to have it and you near me.”

The white elves dance with joy through the light. Their wings sparkle in the golden evening light of the gorge. The colours in the Glass Gorge become even more beautiful. Rosa now knows that honesty makes the world brighter – much brighter than the most beautiful sparkle of a marble.

So the whole community celebrates a happy festival. They tell stories, sing, and dance. And Rosa Immergrün feels as light as a feather in the wind. She has learned that lies make everything difficult. Honesty not only makes friends happy, but also one's own heart.

What do we learn from this?

Honesty is important. It fosters trust and leads to good friendships. Lies may solve a problem for a brief moment, but they cause sadness and make the heart heavy. In the Neflental, everyone now knows: even if it takes courage, the truth brings the most joy and light in the end.

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