Milo's Funny Nose
Milo was a little boy with round cheeks and a happy smile. He lived in a cosy yellow house with his mum and a fat orange cat named Pickle. Milo loved Pickle, and pancakes, and jumping in puddles. One bright morning, Milo was still sleepy and snug in bed when Mum peeked around the door. She asked, “Milo, did you brush your teeth?”
Milo had not brushed them. Not even one tooth. But he did not want to leave his warm, cosy bed. So he said, “Yes, I did.”
And something funny happened. His nose grew a little bit longer. Just a tiny bit. Milo blinked.
He touched the end of his nose. It felt the same as always. He looked in the little round mirror.
“That’s strange,” he said.
But he was in a hurry to go and play, so he hopped up and ran downstairs. He did not know it yet. But Milo’s nose grew a little bit longer every single time he told a fib.
The Cookies
After lunch, Mum baked a tray of warm cookies. They smelled like sugar and sunshine, and they were still soft in the middle.
“Only one each,” said Mum. “We will save the rest for after dinner.”
Milo ate his one cookie. It was the best cookie in the whole world. But the plate was still full of more.
When Mum went outside to hang the washing, Milo took one more. Then he took another one. He ate them quietly, behind the curtain.
Soon the whole plate was empty, with only crumbs left behind. Then Mum came back inside and saw the empty plate.
“Milo, where did all the cookies go?” she asked.
Milo looked down at his shoes.
“I didn’t eat them,” he said.
And his nose grew longer. It grew right past his chin! Milo gasped and covered his nose with both hands. But Mum did not see, because she had already turned to fill the kettle for tea.
Longer and Longer
That afternoon, Milo was carrying his cup of grape juice. He was not looking where he was going, and the cup tipped right over. It made a big purple puddle on the floor. Mum heard the splash from the next room.
“Did you spill the juice?” she asked.
“It wasn’t me. It was Pickle,” said Milo.
But that was not true at all. Pickle the cat was fast asleep on the warm windowsill, with his tail curled over his nose. And so Milo’s nose began to grow. It grew longer. And longer.
And LONGER! It grew all the way across the room. It pushed the door wide open. It knocked a book off the shelf with a thump.
It dipped right into the soup pot. It tickled Pickle’s whiskers, and Pickle woke up with a hiss and scampered away. Milo’s nose was so long that he could not see his toys. He could not even see his own feet.
Everywhere he turned, his great long nose got in the way.
“Oh no,” said Milo, in a very small voice.
He sat down on the floor and felt tiny behind his very, very long nose. He did not feel like playing any more.
Telling the Truth
Mum came and sat down on the floor beside him. She did not shout. She did not look cross at all. She just gave him a soft, kind smile.
“Milo, I think your nose grows when you say something that is not true,” she said gently.
Milo’s eyes filled up with tears. He had been so frightened to tell her the truth.
“I’m sorry, Mum,” he whispered.
“It is alright,” said Mum. “You can always tell me the truth. Telling the truth makes everything feel lighter.”
Milo took a deep breath. He decided to be brave.
“I did eat the cookies,” he said.
And his nose shrank back a little.
“I did spill the juice. It was not Pickle,” he said.
And his nose shrank back some more. And when he told her that he had not really brushed his teeth that morning, his nose shrank all the way back to its small, round, ordinary size.
Goodnight, Milo
Milo touched his nose. It felt just right again. He felt light, as if he had set down a very heavy bag. He gave Mum the biggest hug.
“Thank you for telling me the truth. That was very brave.” said Mum.
Together they wiped up the purple juice, and they saved one last cookie for the morning. Pickle came back, climbed into Milo’s lap, and began to purr.
That night, Mum tucked Milo into his warm bed and turned the little lamp down low.
“Goodnight, Milo,” she said softly.
“Goodnight, Mum. I will always tell you the truth,” said Milo.
And this time, his nose did not grow at all. Because he truly meant it. He closed his eyes, with his small round nose and a happy, light heart, and drifted off to sleep.