Tattletale
By Jean Boonstra
Wyatt and Mr. Simon are doing some maintenance work on the float plane, Blue Birdie. Wyatt seems distracted. I wonder what he’s thinking about . . .
“Wyatt,” Mr. Simon said, “hand me a wrench please?”
Wyatt distractedly reached for the toolbox. “Here you go, Mr. Simon,” he said.
“This is a screwdriver, not a wrench,” Mr. Simon said with a laugh.
“Ooops, here it is,” Wyatt said.
“Thank you,” Mr. Simon said.
Mr. Simon’s phone buzzed.
“Mr. Simon,” Wyatt said, “your phone just buzzed. It might be important!”
Mr. Simon opened the text message.
“Is everything alright?” Wyatt asked worriedly.
“It’s Jake,” said Mr. Simon, “someone at the Academy ate his organic cookies.”
“Jake must be pretty upset,” Wyatt said.
“Jake did find evidence,” Mr. Simon replied. “The culprit left a trail of crumbs.”
“Oh no,” Wyatt said quietly.
Mr. Simon’s phone buzzed again. “The cookie crumb trail,” Mr. Simon explained, “led to the boys’ locker room. Any of the boys at the Academy could have eaten his cookies.”
“Jake’s organic chocolate chip cookies are delicious,” said Wyatt distractedly.
“Wyatt,” Mr. Simon said, “I didn’t tell you what kind of cookies they were. Is there something you want to tell me?”
Wyatt hesitated and then said, “I know who ate Jake’s cookies! I saw him do it. I was hoping that Jake would catch him on his own.”
“Ah,” said Mr. Simon, “so you wouldn’t have to be a tattletale.”
“Yeah, no one likes a tattletale,” Wyatt said with a frown. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Wyatt, grab your phone,” said Mr. Simon. “Look up Matthew 18:15 and you’ll know what to do.”
Wyatt read the verse on the Bible app and smiled. “Thanks Mr. Simon,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Alright Wyatt!” said Mr. Simon. He picked up his wrench and continued to work on Blue Birdie. A little while later Wyatt ran back down the dock.
“Mr. Simon, I, ” Wyatt began to explain, and then he heard Mr. Simon’s phone buzz. “Oh, check your messages!” he said.
“Well, alright,” Mr. Simon answered with a smile. “Ah, the culprit confessed!”
Wyatt grinned. “Good, he said he would! Now hand me that wrench, Mr. Simon. Let’s get to work!”
Wyatt solved his problem! The verse Mr. Simon told him to read is Matthew 18:15 which says this, “…if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” Wyatt talked to the boy he saw eating the cookies privately and the boy agreed to confess. Keep this in mind the next time you’re in a similar situation with your friends—it’s good advice!
Hear this Discovery Mountain mini adventure “Tattletale.”
