It was a normal day for Señor Candid. He jumped out of bed excited for a new day of exceedingly truthful tours! He got dressed and brushed his teeth. His roommate, Mr. Logy, who was always tired, walked sluggishly down the stairs to the bathroom.

“Good evening,” Mr. Logy mumbled to Señor Candid.

“Truthfully, it isn’t evening,” Señor Candid said.

“I (yawn) know that,” Mr. Logy replied.

“I’m going to be straightforward with you. I’m getting really frustrated with you walking down these stairs every morning and being lazy all of the time!” Señor Candid snapped. He was always straightforward with things, and maybe a little too straightforward at times. Mr. Logy yawned.

“Sorry, I can’t (yawn) help it. I’m just (yawn) always too tired,” Mr. Logy said, drowsily. Señor Candid looked in the mirror. He put on a random hat from his giant collection. The one he chose probably said something like Be Straightforward, or a plain thumbs-up emoji, which may seem like nice things to you, but in Canadia, people knew better than to walk up to Señor Candid.

As Señor Candid looked out of the window, he saw the giant building of Mr. Obfuscate, who always lied to everyone. In fact, Mr. Obfuscate and his company lied about everything they did! Señor Candid knew this. In fact, he knew everything about all of the companies around his town in Canadia. He looked and saw someone walking in the street. He tried to resist, but he couldn’t.

“You look really bad with that make-up on!” he yelled.

Señor Candid walked over to the kitchen and poured some Truthful O’s into a bowl. As he ate, he thought of what he would tell the tours that day. His tour business was no normal one. Instead of giving tours of the city, Señor Candid told people all of the lies that companies tell their customers and all the secrets behind them. Because he was candid, he told them what the companies were really doing. He put on his suit and walked outside to go to his office.

On the way, he saw Lavish Laila who always wore the nicest, most luxurious clothes. “Too much gold on your shirt! You look really bad in that!” he told her. She was slightly offended, but she knew Señor Candid couldn’t really help it.

As Señor Candid walked into his office, he saw someone running at him. He quickly closed and locked the door of the office and hid behind his desk. Who would be looking for him? He knew he had a lot of enemies, but no one had ever gone that far. Whoever it was, they were wearing some pretty fancy clothes. He peeked above the desk to see if the person had left. He didn’t see them so he got up. He walked over and unlocked the door. As he opened it he saw Concurring Cleo, one of his friends. Concurring Cleo always agreed with whatever anyone said, so it was easy to become friends with her.

“I’m not gonna lie, but I feel like you should disagree with people sometimes,” he told Concurring Cleo, truthfully.

“I agree,” Concurring Cleo said back.

A few hours later, a line stretched out of the door! It was a good day for business! Señor Candid let all of the tourists in and greeted them. “Wow! Your clothes do not flatter you!” he greeted them, truthfully. He was always saying things like this to people, and he couldn’t help it! He then took them outside.

Señor Candid’s first stop was Whack, a local extermination agency. There, he told them about The Exterminator Plucky Ducky and his rise to fame. But, he said that there was something not many people know about Plucky Ducky. He started out as a normal duck! Señor Candid always ended his tours by saying something like, “You didn’t see that coming, huh?”

Señor Candid looked across the street and saw the Mayor. “You made 15 spelling mistakes in your article on being mayor, and you look disgusting in photos!” Señor Candid yelled to the Mayor. He saw his friend, Mr. Conform, who always agreed and blended in with the crowd, just like Cleo. “I think you should get a haircut!” Señor Candid said. “I… agree,” Mr. Conform said, a little skeptical.

A while later, Señor Candid ended his tour at Mr. Obfuscate’s company. He told them about all the things that Mr. Obfuscate hides. He thanked everyone for coming. Once everyone left, something weird happened. Something that would change his life. Someone poked him on the shoulder. He turned and saw a hooded figure. The figure pulled a tab of paper out of his hat and handed it to Señor Candid. Then the figure ran away.

Señor Candid walked back to his office and looked at the paper. It said, Come to Mr. Obfuscate’s building at nine tonight. Señor Candid walked around his office thinking, “Should I do it? Is this a trap?” Señor Candid decided to go. He looked at the clock. It was almost nine! He put his dark jacket on and walked out of his office. He crossed all the streets until he got to Mr. Obfuscate’s building. Then something grabbed him from behind.

“Hello there, Señor Candid,” said a voice from behind him. He turned and saw Mr. Obfuscate.

“Why did you meet me here?” Señor Candid asked.

“You are here to see my secret plan!” he replied. “I will take down all other companies, and I will be the only company around! Then I will be able to control everyone!” he replied. Señor Candid was worried. He needed to find a way to stop him! But how? Maybe he could use the truth.

“Hey, Mr. Obfuscate. What will confusing people do to help you?” Señor Candid asked, truthfully.

“Hmm… I didn’t think about that,” Mr. Obfuscate replied.

Señor Candid knew he was getting somewhere! “Then why do this? Why don’t you help people instead of confusing them? Also, your suit buttons are undone,” Señor Candid said, truthfully again.

Mr. Obfuscate thought about this for a long time. He could conquer the world, but what good would that do? “Guards!” he yelled. Mr. Obfuscate’s bodyguards took Señor Candid outside.

A while later, Señor Candid saw Mr. Obfuscate walking down the steps of his building. He had finally made his decision, and it would change Señor Candid’s life.

“Thank you for helping me see the truth, Señor Candid,” he said. “I have decided to take some time off for a while. I’m sorry for all of the trouble I put you through.” Señor Candid had done it! He had helped Mr. Obfuscate feel more. . . truthful!

“You can have the building as well. I don’t think I’ll ever be needing it again,” said Mr. Obfuscate.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Obfuscate! You are the meanest person I ever met!” said Señor Candid, again, truthfully.

As he walked home that night, Señor Candid thought of all of the stories he could tell his tourists about what he had done. He thought about what he could do for Mr. Obfuscate, and what he could do with the building! He went home and sat in his rocking chair, staring out the window. The sunset was beautiful from where he was. It seemed as if he had never seen it before. Maybe it was because of all the anger that he had felt towards Mr. Obfuscate. But all of that was gone for Señor Candid. It all had drifted away in a ray of sun as it set behind the mountains. Señor Candid had saved the world, and he had saved it, truthfully.