The Thinking Couch

June did not like sitting on the thinking couch!

In her family, you had to sit on the big, squishy sofa when you made a bad choice. Lately, June had to sit there a lot, like when she told a lie or made a big mess in the kitchen and wouldn’t clean up. But mostly she sat on the thinking couch after fighting with her sister, Kelly.

Today June sat on one side and Kelly sat on the other. Mom sat with them and pointed to the picture of Jesus Christ on the wall.

“Let’s think about how much the Savior loves you,” Mom said. “What would He do if He were here? What would He want you to do?”

June stared at the floor. She didn’t want to look at the picture. She knew Jesus wanted her to be kind. But she also worried He would be mad at her for fighting.

A few days later when their friend Samantha was over, June and Kelly had the biggest fight ever.

After Kelly stormed away, June felt so angry she thought she’d explode. “I don’t want to play with Kelly anymore. She’s always so mean!”

“But I like playing with both of you,” Samantha said. “And Kelly isn’t always mean.”

“Well, she’s always mean to me,” June said. “She yells at me and calls me names and … she hits me!”

Samantha’s eyes got wide. “I’ve never seen her hit you.”

“Well, she does,” June said. “All the time!”

Samantha looked sad. June started to feel sick. Why had she just told such a mean lie?

A sound from the doorway made June look up. There was Kelly. She’d heard everything! Kelly ran away crying. June’s heart sank.

Soon Samantha went home. But June kept sitting on the floor. After a while, Mom came into the room.

“Kelly is upset,” she said. “What happened?”

June looked down. “Um … I lied. I said she hits me. That’s not true. I should talk to her.”

June knew she needed to say sorry. But what if Kelly wouldn’t forgive her?

After looking around, June found Kelly curled up on the thinking couch. She sat down beside her. But she didn’t know what say to make things better. She started to cry.

“I’m sorry,” June said. “I don’t know why I told such a mean lie. And I do want to play with you.”

June waited for Kelly to yell. Instead, she sat up and gave June a big hug. “I forgive you,” she said.

“What?” June said, surprised.

“I’m sorry too,” Kelly said. “Let’s not fight anymore.”

June wiped her eyes. “Sounds good to me.”

She looked at the picture of Jesus Christ. “I used to worry He would be mad at me for fighting,” June said. “But Jesus isn’t like that. What do you think He would do?”

“I think He would give us a big hug,” Kelly said. “And ask us to be nicer to each other.”

June smiled. “I think so too.”

Illustration by Shawna J. C. Tenney