The Truth Hurts

Maddy was a precocious child who spoke the truth and shared things she often should have thought twice about, at least according to her parents. But Maddy was never a bad girl, quite the opposite, believing in respecting others, in common politeness and decency, which is just what gets Maddy on the bad side of a very unpleasant old woman.

She was only going to the mall since it was the start of a nice summer, and Maddy wanted to window shop, see what maybe she could spend her graduation present money on. There were the usuals waiting for stores to open, other teens she knew from school, some normal older shoppers, and then there was the old woman with the beat up car idling and spitting out black smoke all over the parking lot.

Even worse the woman was also smoking some horrible cigarette more pungent than she'd ever breathed in as she walks past. When the woman tosses a used cigarette to the pavement, still leaning against her polluting car, Maddy has seen enough.

She's honest to a fault and that woman is not doing right, breaking the law by polluting and offending everyone around with her dirty cigarettes and nasty energy inefficient old car. It seemed like no one else wanted to stand up to the bully this woman was basically being, so Maddy marches right over and demands that she turn off her engine, stop breaking the law and polluting or littering.

The heavily accented old woman is not happy to put up with a little girl as she calls Maddy, but she does attempt to warn Maddy to mind her own business. However when determined young Maddy pushes on to the point of threatening to call the cops and let them come deal with her, this old woman is the one who has had enough.

As the woman whispers heavily right into Maddy's ear, she speaks of how Maddy loves the truth, but will the truth love her. Grabbing her with a death grip, the old woman puts a powerful Gypsy curse on her, chanting, infecting Maddy with a curse that will forever have her embodying the truth... even if the truth is not actually true.

Overhearing the altercation, Paula, the queen bitch of the school in Maddy's most recent year can't resist getting a little revenge for the time Maddy insisted on telling everyone Paula's true weight when she tried to fib about it.

Telling the other girls with her a blatant lie about Maddy, pretending it to be the truth, Maddy finds the curse is very much real... even false truths becoming true the moment she hears them.

Even worse, Maddy is finding out that teenage bitches have no loyalty to a friend like her, not when they can really make her suffer and yet turn on all her morality and decency to ultimately smile a quite sinful satisfied grin.

Another Reader's Choice Month comes to a close. Unfortunately that's the truth... but while The Truth Hurts, it doesn't have to hurt so bad, at least when Maddy is there.