Hindlewood is a small town near Houston, Texas that is surrounded by forests and mountains, with a population of about 200 people. Everyone knows everyone and everybody is friends. Gossip spreads like wildfire. A boy can walk towards the wrong store, and even before his foot is halfway through the door, his mama will be there, grabbing his hand and taking him back home for a good whipping. And in school, don’t even get me started on that. There is no hiding a bad grade. A child can get a C+, and try to hide it, but the teacher lives right next door. What about secrets? There are no secret in Hindlewood. Peoples’ ears are too big. They have twenty-twenty vision, and their mouths are as big as mouths can get. But still, in this town, kids will be kids, and they will try to lie their way out of any trouble...
Up the creek a mile or two, you will see three small houses. That’s where the towns’ elite live. Away from the commotion of the marketplace and Main Street, it’s quiet and peaceful. Their closest neighbors lived two miles away, but news still traveled fast. In the house in the middle lived Mandy Dash. Her father was the first person to settle in Hindlewood, and the park on Main Street was even named after him, Harley Dash Park. She lived there with her son, Lyle. Lyle was one of the most mischievous, troublesome boys in Hindlewood. He was a compulsive liar. He told great stories, but the people in Hindlewood knew better than to believe anything he said.
On this day, Lyle woke up bright and early with a plan. He had worked his butt off for days selling newspapers and delivering fruit, house by house, just to earn enough money to buy his mama a dress for her birthday. And he had done it. He had raised $40.00, just enough to buy her the pink and purple floral dress that she always admired on the mannequin of Ross and Russell’s Department store. Being a single mother, she could not afford to buy any new clothes; she usually just sew her own. So Lyle woke up early that morning, and headed down the creek. He didn’t like walking along the road, he knew people would see him. Then his mama would find him and ask him why he wasn’t doing his Sunday chores. He wanted this to be a surprise for her. He didn’t want anybody to see him buying her a thing.
As he was walking along, he picked wild-flowers. Within minutes he tied his rope around the bottom making a beautiful bouquet. He smiled to himself, no one had seen him yet. There was still hope for a surprise. Suddenly, a fairy appeared in front of him. He screamed, running away, looking back to make sure it wasn’t following him home. His mama had told him that fairies were tricky creatures, but the one he saw was giggling and floating above the water. He stopped running and walked back, “Hello!” he said cautiously.
“Hi there”, the fairy replied, smiling brightly. Everything about her gave a light blue glow. He thought she was beautiful.
“Those are some mighty fine flowers you got here” she said.
“Thanks, they're for my mama. Today’s her birthday!” he said, holding them tighter.
“Oh, how nice of you! No one ever gives me flowers for my birthday,” the fairy frowned, floating over to a rock.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lyle said.
“Do you think maybe I can just hold the flowers?” the fairy said, smiling optimistically.
“Uhm...” Lyle thought.
“Oh, please. Only for a second!” The fairy said, inching closer and closer.
“Okay, for a second only, then I have to go to the marketplace!” Lyle gave her the flowers and poof! She disappeared! Lyle yelled, “Hey, you said you were only guna hold them!”
The fairy reappeared further up the creek, “Come on and get 'em if you want em!” The fairy dashed off, and Lyle chased her, picking up speed.
“Come back here!” he yelled. He chased her all around the forest, and then she went into a man’s cabin. Lyle stopped, knowing he shouldn’t go after her, but when she appeared in the window sticking her tongue out, he lost it, “Come back here!” He ran into the cabin and knocked into a stack of wine bottles. Lyle fell to the ground then heard a crash. He got up and saw that all the wine bottles had fallen over too, and was spilling all over the floor. He started to run away before the man who owned the cabin saw him but didn’t get out fast enough. The old man had caught a glimpse of him.
Lyle ran all the way back to the creek, and found a rock big enough to sit on. He slumped over, put his hand under his chin and mumbled to himself, “Nice goin' Lyle. Now what are you guna do?” He decided to skip rocks for a couple of minutes. He grabbed a rock, and instead of throwing it in the water, he threw it at a tree out of frustration. He threw it so hard that it tipped his balance, and Lyle slipped and fell into the creek, soaking himself from head to toe. Lyle climbed out of the creek and started dragging towards to Main Street; he just wanted this day to be over!
He walked into his market place and caught a quick look at himself. He was a mess. He had a cut on his left cheek with blood dripping down, there was mud caked on him, and his clothes were grimy and wet. But Lyle didn’t care; it was early enough that there was hardly anyone at the marketplace so he was able to make it to Ross and Russell’s Department store unnoticed. He went in, picked up the dress in his mama’s size, and went up to the clerk. The lady gave him a look, one of those looks anyone would get if you go into a store looking like a hobo and rang him up, deciding not to ask him any questions, fearing the answer. Lyle smiled innocently and waited patiently like a good little boy would have done.
When the clerk finished, Lyle dashed back to his house, hoping his mama was still sleeping. His smiled brightly as he thought about her reaction to her present. But as he reached the front door, his smile faltered. The old man was at his house talking to his mama. When his mama caught a glimpse of him, her face hardened, “Alylzander Marcus Jingle Hymer Dash, get in here!”
Lyle dropped his head and walked solemnly over to his angry mother. “What is this I hear about you breaking and entering into peoples' houses and destroyin’ their property? Why were you even outside and not doin’ your chores? And what happened to your clothes?!” she asked, hands on her hip, the classic you-are-in-big-trouble pose.
Lyle thought of all the stories he could tell his mama and blurted out, “I woke up early to go to the marketplace to buy you a birthday present. I went along the creek because I didn’t want anybody seein’ me! I was picking flowers for you, and a fairy appeared and stole ‘em. She ran into the man’s cabin, and I wasn’t guna chase after her, but then she stuck her tongue out at me and I couldn’t help myself. Then I ran in and I accidentally knocked over all his wine bottles. I didn’t mean to, I swear! It was that fairies’ fault, mama! You gotta believe me!”
He gasped for breath and then turned to the old man, “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean to! I’ll clean up everything, and I’ll even work to pay you back!”
“Go to your room!” his mama said.
Lyle walked up to his bedroom and shut the door. He plucked off his filthy clothes, put on shorts and a t-shirt, and sat on his bed looking out the window and watched the old man leave. His mama came in and said, “Lyle, I’m very disappointed in you!”
Lyles’ eyes watered and he cried out, “Mama, I’m telling the truth!”
His mama laughed and said, “I know…”
Lyle wiped his eyes and asked, “How? I’m always lyin’. Why do you believe me now?”
His mama took his hands, looked out his window, grinned and said, “Because sometimes… the truth is stranger than fiction…”