Sad tidings for Trulili

It was the happiest day of the calendar year in the city of Hovaji. It was the one-hundredth anniversary of when the city was founded. And ever since then, the city has grown and flourish. In fact, it recently made Hour magazine's top 200 list of the best vacation destinations! Hovaji knew how to throw together a celebration, too. There was not one, but two parades. There were bands playing all over, food booths, carnival games, street vendors and re-enactments of when the city was founded. And best of all, the day was capped off with a fantastic fireworks display. For residents of Hovaji, it was the best day you could ever ask for. Except for one young girl named Trulili.

You see, Trulili wanted nothing to do with the celebration at hand. What point is there, she wondered, when all the other days of the year are very boring? Isn't a celebration just a farce to cover-up the fact that we are a boring city? She sat inside her room, looking out her picture window onto the festivities lining her street. Tired of sneering at the revilers, Trulili pulled up a chair and started to read a book. This will be more edifying than partying, she reasoned.

Swinging the front door open, Tralalilia, Trulili's mother, beamed with excitement. "Trulili, you're missing the best day of the year!" she yelled. "I'm not coming out!" Trulili yelled back. "All that pomp and circumstance for what, to celebrate us? And you're always saying, 'Trulili, stop being such a self-absorbed brat!'" "I have never used those words, young lady," Tralalilia snapped. "Whatever, mom. I'm not coming out." Frustrated, Tralalilia went back outside to rejoin the festivities, leaving her daughter to sulk.

While walking around, Tralalilia noticed Glu-Glu walking amongst the crowds. "Hey, Glu!" she smiled. "Hey, Tralalilia." Glu-Glu noticed that she wasn't her perky old self. "Why are you upset, and on this day, no less?" "Oh, it's my daughter. She thinks that she's better than everyone else and that there's no reason to celebrate, ever." "How terrible!" Glu-Glu observed. "Not only that, but she finds Hovaji to be an extremely boring city, and that these celebrations are nothing more than a mockery of the fact that we have nothing to offer people the rest of the year!"

Concerned, Glu-Glu started to walk towards the house to talk some sense into Trulili. "It won't do you any good," insisted Tralalilia. "I've already tried. She's so set in her ways, it would take a miracle to make her change her mind." Understanding, Glu-Glu turned around. "She's still a teenager, right? She'll grow out of it." he said. "Yeah, probably." she said longingly. "Hopefully."

As the day went on, the festivities got louder and louder. Eventually, it was too much for Trulili to bear. In a flurry of anger, she stormed down the steps, swung open the front door and marched outside to the streets. "Some of us are trying to have some quiet time here! If I've had to sacrifice my quiet afternoon for you folks, now all of you can sacrifice the rest of your day so I can have some peace and quiet," she declared, folding her arms across her chest. "It's a fair trade."

Bemused, the people of Hovaji started to laugh at Trulili. "It's not funny, you guys!" she insisted. "I'm trying to read a book!" The crowd kept laughing. "I want some peace and quiet!" "Girl," said one townsperson. "You say that the town is boring every day, but when there's actually some excitement you start complaining?" "Yeah, that doesn't seem that right." shouted another person from the crowd. Soon, everybody was murmuring in agreement. "Guys, please." said Trulili, her voice starting to break up. "I want some quiet time now."

Unbeknownst to Trulili, there was a man peddling cotton candy right behind her. He had been pushing his cart all day, every year at the festival for all of his life. In the same cart, too. He was as synonymous with the Hovaji celebration as the parades, bands and fireworks. He was never tired of walking around the city, but his cart was. At that moment, it began to sputter and shake. Sensing possible danger, the man put the cart down and walked away. Everybody in the crowd backed up, except for Trulili, who was too focused on her own demands to even notice something even bigger going on.

BOOM!

In the flash of an eye, Trulili was covered from head to toe in cotton candy. Amused, children ran up to Trulili and started to pick the cotton candy off of her and eat it. Trulili started to cry. "This city is so stupid!" she balled.

Tralalilia was devastated. "Look what they're doing to my poor daughter!" she cried. "Look what your daughter did to these people," said Glu-Glu. "She was selfish, prideful and demanding. She wanted to ruin a fun day for thousands of people because she wanted a 'quiet afternoon'. And it was her own selfishness that led to her not noticing what was going on, leading to this." Glu-Glu said, pointing at the cotton-candy outline of Trulili. "But, but, they're treating her like a spectacle!" said Tralalilia. "Only because she made herself out to be one, whether she realized it or not."

Unable to move much due to the volume of cotton candy forced upon her, Trulili fell down onto the ground. Sighing, Glu-Glu started walking on over to help her. "I guess you can say that pride went before that fall."