Peter Goes Into Trouble... - A Short Moral Story

By Maithreyi Chandrasekaran

One day there was a boy named Peter who lived with his parents. He was a very mischievous boy who troubled his parents a lot.

In the evening, they went to a theatre to watch a movie. He jumped on his father and not letting him drive the car. They went to the movie late because of Peter.

Peter smiled mischievously. Since they went late, the security did not let them go inside. Peter pushed the security guard aside and walked inside as if he had come here many times. The security guard pulled him back to his parents and said “Please take care of your child!” Peter shouted “I am 10 years old and I don’t always need my parents to take care of me.” The security guard without saying anything walked away. Peter told his parents with a glare “Wouldn’t you just come with me and get inside?”. His parents said “Peter! We can’t just go inside. We are late because of you. You are the one who delayed and is going inside without permission.”

Peter just walked away and took his mother’s phone to watch the same movie which was on the theatre all over the drive back home. His parents thought of a plan to teach him a lesson about how to behave.

Another day they went to a mall. They took a different route where there were 2 paths. Each of them reached a different place, one to the forest and the other to the mall. They knew that Peter will do the opposite thing to what they say and requested Peter to go in the route of the mall. As expected Peter disagreed. So, they took the forest route. Since his father was driving and his mother was free, his mother made some wild animal sounds. Peter got terrified. His parents made a half smile with happy and mischievous mixed together.

Peter’s father stopped the car in the middle of the woods. “Why did you stop here?” Peter asked anxiously. His father said, “There was a small petrol bunk here. I want to check if it’s still there here as the petrol is almost empty.”

His father asked, “Do you want to come with me?”. Peter said “What? Are you out of your mind? First of all, why did you come in this route and now see, we are in a dangerous place. Why does mom not say anything as well?

His mother answered this time. “Please ask one question at a time.” So, Peter asked “Why did you take this route?” His mom said “It’s a shortcut to the mall and you only asked for it.”

Peter asked “Why did you not go in the usual route? If you did, there would not be two paths anyway. It’s nearer.” His mom answered, “Child, because your father was driving very slowly here, you feel like it’s longer.” Peter said, “I’ll ask the rest of the questions when we reach the mall.”

His father returned quickly and said “The petrol bunk is not here anymore. So, we can’t go to the mall nor back home.”

Peter was startled to say “Why can’t we go home? We can walk home.” His mom said “We have come so far and it’s a long way to go back home.” Peter said, “We can take a break under the big tree we saw while coming. His parents agreed to go back home. His parents did not know what to do now. That’s when they all heard a growling sound which was not from his parents. Now all 3 of them were frightened.

Peter said with angriness, “Father, this is why I told you to come by the usual route. Now do you see what happened.” But it wasn’t a real animal. It was from his father’s phone.

Peter ran home without checking if his parents were coming. When he was resting under the big tree and waiting for his parents, he heard real animal growls and he saw a tiger behind the bushes. He stood still. That’s when he noticed, behind him was his parents holding a projector. Now he understood that it was a trick. Peter understood his mistakes about he can’t do things without an adult’s permission.

The End

Moral: We need to listen to adults until we are independent and mature enough.

By Maithreyi Chandrasekaran