The Trouble With Truth
On a planet many, many light years from Earth, there lived an alien race called Lyers. They had (what would seem to us at least) a strange way of communicating. Every statement they made to one another was a lie, but it was considered to be incredibly rude to suggest that someone was lying, so everyone acted as if everything they heard was truthful. For instance, Inget might ask Zsar, “who is the best dancer in the world?” and Zsar might reply “I am, of course” and Inget would say back, “wow, that’s so amazing, you’re so cool!” Then Inget would continue on his way, still wondering who the best dancer in the world really was.
One day, a young but fairly famous artist was holding an exhibition for her latest work. The artist’s name was Troof Nofeer. All the art she had created in the past year was on display in a caplark (which was sort of like a circus tent, but made of a far more solid, yet entirely see through material) in which people could walk around and look at them.
Troof approached one elderly man, who was looking at one of her statues. “What do you think?” she asked him.
“Oh, it’s wonderful. I love it and wish to buy it. Oh, but I can’t afford it until the end of the month.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. But I’m sure no-one else will buy it today. I hope to see you again soon.”
A short while later, a middle-aged couple were viewing the same statue. “What do you think?” she asked them.
“Terrible,” replied the one closest to Troof, “it’s utterly worthless. I definitely have no interest in displaying it in our home.”
Troof smiled. “That’s a pity. But even if you were interested in it I would probably only sell it to you at a high price.”
“Well I would not buy this at any price. I certainly will not be reserving this piece for purchase at the end of the day. I hope you find someone else to take this junk off your hands.”
“Thank you,” Troof replied, “I’m sure I will.
In addition to selling that statue to the couple, Troof managed to sell nine more pieces of art that day. Which was a great relief to her. You see, Troof had just learned a dark secret about herself and would need all the money she could get her hands on if she was going to save herself.
What is Troof’s dark secret?
Why is Troof in danger?
How will money help Troof save herself?