Honesty

"Honesty" title screen

**Honesty** is the second episode of the first season of Adventures from the Book of Virtues.

## Plot

After being told by his father not to touch his antique camera, Zach does so anyway and accidentally knocks it off its stand. Because of that, Zach lies to his father that the camera fell off naturally. He ends up learning some stories up at Plato's Peak about how important it is to be truthful.

## Full Synopsis

Zach enters the camera store as he looks around for his father, before he finds him working on something, then faces a table with an old camera on it. Zach asks if it's new before his father, Mr. Nichols, tells him that it's old actually, then picks it up before setting it on a display. Mr. Nichols explains that the camera is a Graflex, a kind of camera that newspaper photographers used, while stating that it's a real beauty. Zach then starts to approach the display stand, before Mr. Nichols quickly stops him. Zach says that he'll be careful, but Mr. Nichols tells him that he said no because he already has a buyer for the camera,

    then leaves to go call them, while telling Zach not to touch the camera. After Mr. Nichols has left the room, Zach climbs up to the display that the Graflex is on, but unfortunately, disaster strikes when Zach sets off the camera when he touches it, which causes it give off a blinding flash which blinds him, before he accidentally knocks the camera off the display stand. In the other room, Mr. Nichols is talking on the phone when he hears the crash. Zach quickly climbs onto a nearby chair, just as Mr. Nichols enters the room and sees the broken Graflex, much to his sadness and frustration. Zach then lies that he was just sitting there when the Graflex just fell over.
Up at Plato's Peak, Zach has told Socrates what happened, but Sock finds it to be hilarious before he starts laughing about it though he ends up losing his balance and falling into the water. Plato and Annie then show up while Plato states that someone is in a good mood, before Annie asks what the joke is. Aristotle then shows up while saying that he got a joke, which is, "Why did the bobcat cross the road? To bother somebody else for a change!" Sock then climbs out from the water while explaining what Zach told him, finding it to be funny that Zach was told by his dad not to touch the camera then knocks it over and that he lied that the camera fell off its display by itself. Aurora then shows up and lands on Zach's shoulder while telling Sock that that's not funny. Zach lies even more that the display was really wobbly, while Annie tells him that accidents happen. Plato lightly chastises Zach for his lie, while Zach tries justifying that he learned his lesson, which he claims to be "don't touch the cameras. Plato tells Zach that he's missing the big picture, which Sock laughs about as he takes it to be a camera joke, only to end up retracting that statement when Plato glares at him for the awful pun.

Annie then asks Zach if he really promised that he wouldn't touch the camera, which Zach confirms, but it didn't seem like a big deal to him. Aurora then tells Zach that big or small, promises are meant to be kept, with Plato praising her for this fact, because it's all a matter of Honesty. Ari agrees with Plato, before knocking on a small boulder, which causes it to crack open, revealing the Book of Virtues, before he turns a few pages in it, before Plato asks him if he found it, before finding the perfect story.

Story #1: The Frog Prince

After the story ends, Zach says that for him in the real world, it's too late. Plato tells Zach that he doesn't think his father would put a time limit on Honesty.

    Zach then answers that his father would explode if he told him, though Plato tells him that he'd be surprised, which brings to mind another story. Plato then asks Ari to look under 'Washington', which Ari does, until he finds the next story.

Story #2: George Washington and the Cherry Tree

After the story ends, Zach says that it's easy for George Washington because he grew up to be president. Annie then comes up to Zach and tells him that George should tell Zach's father what happened, though Zach tries insisting that it wasn't much of a lie. Aurora then tells Zach that a lie is a lie and the thing about lies is they nag at us, growing more painful with time. Zach thinks that it'll blow over, before Annie is also reminded of a story, which is a tribal fable that her uncle in Canada told her.

Story #3: The Indian Cinderella

After the story ends, Plato praises the story for being well-told, while Zach says that he doesn't want to end up like the sisters did; Scared every time he sees his dad.

     Because of that, Zach makes the decision to go back to the camera store and tell his father what really happened, which everyone is proud to hear, though Sock thinks that Zach is crazy, but Plato assures him that Honesty is always a good idea.

     Because of that, Plato then recites the poem Truth by Ben Jonson, at the same time that Zach has returned to the camera store and approaches Mr. Nichols, who is fixing up the broken Graflex. When Mr. Nichols notices Zach standing above him, Zach tearfully confesses that he broke the Graflex. Instead of getting angry, Mr. Nichols gives Zach a hug to comfort him, before showing him that he's been fixing the Graflex.

## Characters

* Zach Nichols
* Annie Redfeather
* Plato
* Aurora
* Aristotle
* Socrates

## Song

* Song: The Truth is a Chest of Treasures

## Trivia

* This episode marks the first appearance of Zach's father, Mr. Nichols.
* This is the first episode for several things:
	+ The first episode where three stories are told within the same episode.
	+ The first episode where Plato recites a poem.