Sliding from the Truth

By Sarah Cutler Chow

(Based on a true story)

Of course Tori knew it was wrong … but she didn’t want Michael to get in trouble!

“Choose the right way and be happy” (Children’s Songbook, 160).

Tori felt like a brilliant scientist in a laboratory. Today her class was looking at cells with a microscope! She watched Mr. Koch place thin slices of onion onto slides. Tori really wanted to see a nucleus, the cell’s control center.

“Each lab group, send one person to get a slide for your microscope,” Mr. Koch said. “Please be careful. These slides are glass, so they’re fragile. If you break one, you’ll have to pay for it.”

Tori went up to Mr. Koch’s desk and picked up a thin slide in both hands. She walked back to her table, trying not to get smudges on it. In the center she could just barely see the sliver of onion, almost as clear as the glass.

Tori pushed the slide into the microscope’s clips and flipped the light switch. But the microscope stayed dark.

“Oops,” said her lab partner, Michael. “We forgot to plug it in.” He pulled the microscope over to an outlet.

But Michael bumped the slide, and it slipped right out of the clips and onto the floor. Crack! The slide cracked straight down the middle.

Michael grabbed the slide and set it back on the microscope like nothing had happened. He turned the light on and started adjusting the focus. Tori wasn’t sure what to do, so she just sat and looked at their assignment. Her excitement about seeing a nucleus was gone.

After a few minutes Michael whispered, “Tori, will you back me up and tell Mr. Koch our slide was cracked when we got it?”

Tori felt her chest get tight. Of course she knew that was the wrong thing to do, but she didn’t want Michael to get in trouble. She thought about what Jesus would do. Then she said, “I don’t think we should lie about that. But I’ll help you talk to Mr. Koch. It’ll be OK.”

Michael cleared his throat. “OK.” He looked back at the slide. “I don’t have enough money to pay for it, though. What should I do?”

“Just tell the truth,” said Tori. She didn’t feel nervous anymore. She knew they could do the right thing.

Michael took a deep breath and raised his hand. “I need to tell you something, Mr. Koch.” Tori gave Michael an encouraging smile as their teacher walked over.

“I accidentally knocked the slide onto the floor, and it cracked,” Michael said.

“May I see the slide?” Mr. Koch asked calmly. He looked at it closely and then said, “Michael, thank you for telling the truth. You don’t need to pay for it. Just try to be more careful next time.”

“Whew, thanks!” said Michael.

With a new slide, Tori and Michael looked at the onion cells. Tori found a perfect nucleus and drew it in her notebook. She was glad she’d made the right decision. And she’d helped Michael make a good decision too. What a relief.

As they packed up their equipment, Michael said, “Thanks for helping me tell the truth.”

Tori smiled. “Anytime.”

CTR Challenge

“I will be honest with Heavenly Father, others, and myself” (My Gospel Standards).

Think about an honest choice you made. What did you learn?
Read Proverbs 12:22. How does God feel when we are honest?
Ask a parent how they have been blessed by being honest.
I challenge myself to …