Lies are like little clouds that appear out of nowhere. They may seem small and harmless, but they slowly start to pile up and make things feel strange. At school today, I heard something that made me think.
“I’m sure he’ll give us a ten-minute break, right?” Emma said, glancing at the clock.
“Yeah, of course,” Laura replied. “He’ll do it, no way he won’t!”
I knew that wasn’t true. Our teacher was so strict that even five minutes of break felt like a miracle. But I didn’t say anything. I just stood there, listening to them believe in something that wasn’t going to happen.
Throughout the whole day, I heard many more little lies – about homework, after-school plans, weekend trips. Lies that seemed so innocent, but I could feel something wasn’t right. Nobody wanted to tell the truth, because sometimes the truth was uncomfortable. It was much easier to lie than to feel awkward or have to explain yourself if you said “No.”
When I got home, I decided to watch Mom. I heard her talking to a friend on the phone – she was smiling at first, but then said:
“Yes, I’ll come tomorrow. Of course we’ll see each other.”
I knew that wasn’t true. She was always so busy, there was no way she would go.
Maybe it was something small, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why do people say things that aren’t true?
“Mom, why do you say you’ll do something if you know you won’t?” I asked as she placed a cup on the table.
She paused for a moment, then answered, almost like she was making an excuse:
“Sometimes it’s easier to say you will than to explain why you can’t. Lies help us avoid the discomfort of the truth.”
And then I understood – a lie isn’t always big or scary. It can be small and even seem harmless, but it still changes things. It might be a way to save someone from pain or to avoid a problem, but it still changes how we see people and the world.
At the end of the day, sitting alone in my room, I realized something important. Lies, even the little ones, aren’t meaningless. They pile up, and eventually you start to wonder what’s true and what isn’t. And then, a question formed in my mind – one I couldn’t ignore:
Is a lie really as harmless as it seems?
Maybe sometimes it just seems harmless – but actually, it changes everything around us, without us even noticing.
For real?