Liars

There was this city, and within it, each in their own chosen spot, a bunch of liars began from morning till evening roaring out their lies, loud and relentless. Wherever they’d come from and why they’d come was all a bit of a mystery. Maybe they were carried away by some enthusiasm, maybe they were getting paid, who knows. 

Will they ever shut up, the people wondered. Some tried to shout the liars down but wearied of it soon enough. If it didn’t come naturally to you, it seemed, all this shouting, it would soon wear you out. You couldn’t keep going at it long. It took a special talent.

And then in time, their defences worn down perhaps, the people, most of them, by and large stopped wondering about whether the liars would ever shut up, and began instead to accept them - as part of the furniture, so to speak. They grew so used to them they would probably even have found it unsettling not to hear them shouting away. The silence would have been eerie. 

Some however who refused to reconcile themselves to the liars would block their ears whenever in their vicinity, and so try to pass on by ‘undefiled’ as one of them described it. Such actions enraged the liars who in response would shout all the louder, and venomously targeted these enemies of theirs, much to the entertainment of some, and who might themselves even join in with the targeting. No, the best thing for now anyway it seemed, if you wanted an easy life, was either to just accept them or, however you’d manage it, avoid them altogether. 

However I have heard of some youths, less respectful maybe, who began to behave very differently, gathering to laugh at the liars, even sometimes throwing apparently eggs. And as for being targeted venomously - that they found hilarious, which, miracle of miracles, even did on occasion manage to shut the liars up. Maybe it’s they who will have to move on.