The Lie

Lies

Human beings are one, if not the only, animal on the planet capable of deceit. We all tell lies. Even when we try not to, we often resort to untruths. We lie for our own benefit and we lie for the benefit of others. Sometimes we tell lies just to get out of doing something we really don’t want to do. Maybe we aren’t all politicians or lawyers, but that doesn’t mean we won’t use our wiles and wits to get our way. And more often than not, we don’t get away with it either.



Write a scene in which your character tells a lie and gets caught.



Questions to Consider

How big was the lie your character told? And how does it impact the people around them?

Is lying normal behavior for your character? Do they have any tells, psychologically or physiologically?

What is your character’s reaction to being caught in a lie?



The shrub rustled as three men dressed in well-worn clothing, and leather armor emerged from the forest. Their bodies were shiny with sweat, and they stumbled as if they’d been drinking. When they drew closer she could smell the alcohol on them. One of them smiled when he saw her.

“Lookie hear men?” He grunted to his fellows. “A pretty mermaid has washed up on shore. We should give her a proper welcome.”

Jenn stepped back on a wobbly leg. She swayed but managed to keep her balance. She braced herself as the three men advanced on her. The only thing she was certain of was that she was not going down without a fight; even if it was short lived.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?” One of her possible assailants asked.

“I’m waiting for someone,” Jenn answered. She couldn’t believe she said it but there it was. “My… man is coming here to meet me.”

The three men looked her up and down. She looked down at her white cotton dress covered in sand, and her bare feet. Oh yeah, she thought sarcastically, you totally look like you’re waiting for a man. More like you’re waiting for what these men are offering. She brushed at her dress in an attempt to get the sand off. The three men smiled drunkenly as they watched her run her hands over the flimsy garment.

“We can keep ya company,” one offered, “and help you while away the dull hours of waiting.”

“Oh no,” Jenn protested. “He’s very big, and very jealous. He’d be really angry if he found me spending time with one man other than him. I shudder to think what he’d do if he found me with three.”

“You know what I think, missy?” The man in the middle stepped forward and reached for her. He gripped her arm with a sweaty hand. “I think yer full of shit.”

“No, really, I swear,” Jenn protested. She struggled and easily slipped from the sweaty hand on her arm. She looked down at the dirt he left behind. Eew! She thought. These guys were not going to get their hands on her again. She scanned the area for a root of escape. The shrub shuddered again as something else emerged from the forest.

He was big, and hairy like an animal, but his face was that of a man. The set of bull horns protruding from his head made Jenn and her harassers do a double take. He regarded them with a look, and walked to the shore line a few feet away. He settled on the sand stretching out his legs clad in a pair of dark baggy linen pants, and crossed the ankle of one dark leather boot over the other leg.

Ok, Jenn thought, this could either end really good or really bad. “There he is.”

“That’s your man?” One of the drunken men scoffed. “Prove it!”

“Fine,” Jenn lifted her chin, walked over to the large stranger sitting by the sea, and laid a hand on his broad hairy shoulder. She smiled sweetly when he looked up at her incredulously, and leaned down as if to give him a kiss. Please get what I’m about to say, she thought. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting, but I was delayed.” On the word delayed she glanced back at the three men who were starting to inch back toward the tree line.

“That’s alright,” her new acquaintance slid his arm around her waist and pulled her down into his lap. He cupped her chin and pressed his mouth to hers to stifle her surprised cry. He pulled his mouth away just far enough to speak. “You’re not very good at this.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jenn scowled. He barely knew her, how dare he insult her kissing when she wasn’t even trying.

“If we’re lovers you should certainly expect me to kiss you,” he pointed out, “and it wouldn’t be a far stretch to assume I’d pull you into my lap.”

Jenn shifted in his lap to get a good view of the other three men over his shoulder. They stood in front of the shrub line ready to bolt if the big man turned his sights on them. She tentatively slid her arms around her rescuer-to-be. “They’re still watching.”

“Hmm, guess I’ll have to be convincing for both of us.” She was on her back in one shift of his body, and he was position between her thighs. One of his hands rested palm down beside her head, and the other pointed at the three men, and then drew a line across his own throat with his index finger. He turned the finger down to point at the her, and growled the word, “Mine!”

The other three men nodded in understanding, and nearly tripped over themselves as they disappeared back into the woods. Jenn shifted beneath him to see if they were gone. Her breath caught as she brushed what she was pretty sure was his manhood. Wow, she thought it’s big. When she was sure the first three assailants were gone she attempted to extract herself from the compromising position. She squeaked when she felt a pair of large hands grip her from behind and pull her back into a pair of crossed legs. His long bulge nestled against her back.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Their gone now,” she stated. “Thanks for your help. Sorry, I bothered you. I’ll just be going now.”

“Not so fast,” he tightened his grip on her. “My protection services don’t come free.”

“Seriously?” Jenn inquired. Out of the gang rape and into the fire. “Look I don’t have any money. I lost my pur- a- pouch somewhere in my travels.”

“That’s alright,” her rescuer laughed. He cupped her face in his hand, “perhaps we can take it out in trade.”

“Whoa!” Jenn pushed against him in a feudal attempt to escape. “I’m definitely not that kind of girl!”

“Of course you’re not,” he smiled and released her. She moved out of his lap to sit on the ground beside him. “I’m Taurus.”

“Jenn,” she took the hand he offered and shook it.