Fiction: Group 3
After a few more strokes, bits of the stuff began to flake and fall to the ground. “And she would always tell
me a story when we cleaned the ducks.” She looked up at him, a small smile on her lips, “Do you want to
hear it?” Overtaken by curiosity, the businessman nodded.
“Once upon a time, there was a little rabbit,” The girl started, “Its name was
XiaoTiaoPi
(Little Naughty).
XiaoTiaoPi
would always lie to his family. He would say he was going out to find carrots, when really he
was going to steal carrots from other rabbits.” She scrubbed a bit more and more of the glob flaked. “One
day, while he was going off to steal carrots, an eagle swooped down. Instead of grabbing
XiaoTiaoPi
, he
dropped a small stone into
XiaoTiaoPi
’s ear. From there, the stone travelled to his heart, where it grew
bigger and heavier. At first, the little rabbit didn't mind. But, after every time he lied to his family, the stone
would become heavier.” The little girl moved on to the next wing. “Finally, after lying to his family so
many times,
XiaoTiaoPi
died. The stone became too heavy; his heart could not take all the extra weight.”
“His family wept and buried him. They cried for three whole days. Then on the fourth day, a small stone
was on top of
XiaoTiaoPi
’s grave. It had fine writing on it, and it was a note from
XiaoTiaoPi
.
Dear Family
,
it said,
this is my stone of lies. I lied to you about the many times I said I was going to find carrots. I stole
them from other rabbits, I never found them. I know you may hate me for it, and you have every reason to.
However, telling you this has taken away my fibs. I now know that only the truth will set me free from my
dishonesty
. They buried the stone next to
XiaoTiaoPi
. People say that if you walk by
XiaoTiaoPi
’s home,
you will see some carrots growing in the ground. It is
XiaoTiaoPi
's way of saying sorry.”
The little girl put down the brush, and looked at the businessman. “Did you like it?” The girl asked the
businessman. “Very.” The businessman replied, “I must go now. I have something to do.” He bid goodbye
to the girl, gave her money to buy more soap and brushes, and took a cab to his office. From there, he
arranged a press meeting to be held the next day.
At the press meeting, everyone expected he was going to introduce a new watch, or inform them about
how well his business was doing.
What they didn't expect was a stuttering businessman, admitting to fraud. He choked on the words, the
light blinding his eyes.
People were horrified. The person they looked up to wasn't who they thought he was.
The businessman didn't go to jail, despite the protests. He used the money he'd earned to bail himself out,
leading to a permanent downfall in his business. His factories closed down, and eventually, his company did
too.
A few days after his company closed, he went to visit the river again. He spotted the girl a few feet away,
cleaning the ducks with a woman. Without a sound, he walked over and sat down with them.
"Hello sir," The little girl chirped, "This is my mother." The woman next to her smiled, a duck in her lap,
and nodded her head in greeting.
"The factory I worked at closed down, so now I can clean the ducks with her. I found a job at the local
market instead where I have fresh air,” the little girl's mother told the businessman, "Here, you can try."
She offered him her soap and brush, and he scrubbed. Flakes fell to the ground. "No matter how dirty, you
can always come clean." The woman abruptly said, "It's never too late."
As if on cue, the duck in her lap spit out a stone into the businessman's hand. It was light, and clean like a
pearl. He admired it for a moment, then put it in his jacket pocket. After a few hours of cleaning birds, the
three said their goodbyes and left.
And as he walked away, the gentle weight of the stone in his pocket reminded him to never hide in lies ever
again.
