The Lyin' Tale

A kitten startles Aubrey by the Timothy Center dumpster, she tumbles into a bush, scratches her arm... and tells everyone a monstrous cat did it. Soon the fib is a full-blown mountain lion, and Aubrey the hero who fought it off with a garbage-can lid - a tale Alex can't wait to splash across his Whit's End website. The bigger the crowd grows, the wilder the story gets, and the harder it is to stop. Then Whit announces that a rabid mountain lion has been caught, which means a scratched-up Aubrey needs a trip to the hospital. One look at the doctor's needles and the truth comes tumbling out: the lion was a bush, the beast was a kitten, and the whole adventure was a lie. Aubrey confesses to everyone at Whit's End - and discovers the ridiculous truth gets just as many laughs as the lie ever did.

Found on In Your Wildest Dreams Album 34 · 17 episodes

The run See every episode

0433b Chain Reaction A boy's decision to cut corners on a simple lawn-mowing job quietly sets off a string of mishaps that ripples through the entire town of Odyssey.

0434 B-TV: Redeeming the Season A live holiday broadcast from the Odyssey Mall asks whether Christmas customs with tangled pagan and commercial roots can be given back to Christ - weaving in the imaginative tale of a young man named Nicholas who tries to run from wealth and position to find a humble life of faith.

1 of 2 0435 A Look Back As the millennium draws to a close, a nostalgic tour of Whit's End revisits the beloved characters and moments that made Odyssey feel like home.

2 of 2 0436 A Look Back Phil Lollar's retrospective tour of Odyssey revisits its funniest names, the Imagination Station's greatest journeys, and the quiet moments that changed lives forever.

0437a Sunset Bowlawater When a little girl's beloved goldfish turns up dead, a bumbling detective takes the case - but the fish himself has been telling the story all along.

0437b The Long Way Home Desperate to escape her family's new home for a day of fun, a girl works odd jobs all week to earn her way onto a church youth group trip.

0438a The Lyin' Tale A trip to the dumpster leaves Aubrey with a scratch, a crowd of curious kids, and a story that keeps getting bigger every time she tells it.

0438b The Telltale Cat When Mandy's new cat makes David Straussberg's life miserable, his desperate scheme to get rid of it comes back to haunt him.

0439 B-TV: Grace A free downtown lunch giveaway sparks a B-TV broadcast about grace - God's undeserved favor - told through Scripture, comedy, and the story of a farmer's son who trades his inheritance for Hollywood dreams.

0440 I Slap Floor When two kids ask why Whit is home recovering from Odyssey's strangest week ever, Bernard spins a tale of a mysterious returning visitor and a town where everyone suddenly starts acting like their opposite.

0441a What Do You Think? Desperate to know what people really think of her, a girl uses one of Whit's inventions to hear the private thoughts behind everyone's polite words.

0441b Idol Minds While Whit is away for two weeks, the kids of Odyssey turn to Eugene's technology to fill the void - with results no one anticipates.

0442a Two Roads Two boys from the same neighborhood face the same spilled-candy temptation in a school cafeteria - and Whit follows the very different roads their choices set them on.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 2 more roles

2 supporting roles

Doc Morton Diane Michelle Ellen Shepard Carolyn Hennesy

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Charlie Richards Writer Phil Lollar Director Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer

The story

Read the full synopsis 1 min

Aubrey Shepard reluctantly carries a heavy bag of garbage to the dumpster at the Timothy Center. When a football nearly hits her, she frightens several younger children away by claiming that the area is dangerous. A small cat then startles her, and she falls into a bush and scratches her arm.

Rather than admit that a kitten scared her, Aubrey tells the children that the animal was large and monstrous. When Connie notices the scratch, the creature becomes a huge, vicious cat that Aubrey bravely chased away to protect the children. At Whit’s End, Eugene mentions that a mountain lion has been sighted near Trickle Lake, and Aubrey allows him to believe that it attacked her.

Alex wants the exciting account for his Whit’s End website. With a growing crowd listening, Aubrey’s story expands wildly. She claims that she fought the mountain lion with a garbage-can lid, swung it by its tail, and even bit it after it bit her. She knows the tale is false, but the attention makes it harder to stop.

Whit reports that authorities have captured a rabid mountain lion several miles away. Since Aubrey insists that it scratched her, he takes her to the hospital for treatment. Faced with a doctor’s intimidating needles, Aubrey finally admits that the lion was a bush, the dangerous cat was a harmless kitten, and her entire heroic account was a lie.

Whit has suspected the truth from the beginning, and Aubrey’s parents are waiting for her to confess. She returns to Whit’s End and tells everyone what actually happened. To her surprise, the children enjoy the ridiculous truth as much as the dramatic lie, and Alex still wants to put it on his website because it makes people laugh. Aubrey learns that dishonesty grows more difficult to control with every retelling, while the truth needs no improvement.