The day of the Lie

Just as the elevator stopped Mr. Assistant ate the cupcakes up, stood by the door with his treasures. Uncle Larry sat tight, he kept his blue eyes fixed on Google Maps. As soon as the elevator dinged, the sixth flag vanished. Now there was only a flag on Google Maps, a wry smile crept over his face.

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The door opened onto a green sward. They got out of the elevator's cab, and scanned around. The sky was starry over their heads, the ground was soft beneath their feet, and a giant pair of sneakers sat on the lawn right ahead of them. Like two little streams, the long glitter shoestrings meandered in the grass so that they formed a "heart". The glitter heart glistened in the moonlight. The castle was still hidden from sight. However, Mr. Assistant was glad to be on the ground again.

After a while, they headed for the next destination: The seventh flag. When they tried to go past the sneakers, something amazing happened: the grass began to grow tall. Mr. Assistant dropped the basket on the ground, and took one step backward. The grass kept rising up, now it was about over his ankles, Mr. Assistant's eyes rounded in horror, he looked back to the cab. He wanted to escape, but he stood there staring, as if frozen to the spot. Uncle Larry was busy with checking the laces, as if nothing had happened.

Soon the grass came up to their waists, none of them moved. The greenery spiraled upward, filled the sky, and made a green wall all around them. Mr. Assistant looked at the green wall with startled eyes. The view was really familiar. It rang a bell to him. After a few stunned seconds his eyes sparkled with excitement, "Jack and the beanstalk? It's also a Persian story?"
Uncle Larry nodded, "Yeah, it is."
It struck him that Larry was telling a lie, but he said nothing about this. He asked, grinning, "So we must climb up these giant stalks, needn't we?"
Uncle Larry replied, "No, we need to escape right now unless we would like to meet the giant."
--, "Oh my God!" Mr. Assistant said as he took his basket. Next he started to walk toward the elevator as quickly as he could.
Uncle Larry shouted, "Turn around- you're going in the wrong direction." The assistant didn't pay attention to him, and kept walking away. Uncle Larry said, grinning, "I'm sorry, you can't use the elevator, because it's broken." Mr. Assistant came back, sat down on the sneakers, burst into tears.
---, "Why are you crying?"
---, "Greens makes me cry."
---, "Tell me how Jack got rid of the giant?"
---, "He chopped the beanstalk down with his ax." 
---, "You should act the same."
 

A look of confusion crossed his face, he couldn't quite realize what Larry meant. "Come on, you should clear a path through the dense forest." Uncle Larry said. After a few seconds hesitation his assistant got up and began to cut the grass with his fingers. Uncle Larry laughed, "What are you doing? don't use your fingers."
Mr. Assistant looked even more puzzled, "What?"
Uncle Larry, "You are armed with a pair of scissors. Use them to cut the grass." 
Mr. Assistant laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "What a crazy thing to do! I hope you're not serious." he said.
Larry tried to keep a straight face, "I'm being serious. There is nothing for it. You must do your best. Think like a soldier."
Mr. Assistant, staring at the pair of scissors, said sadly, "But, sir, this pair of scissors isn't very sharp."
---, "Trust me, the scissors cut the grass better than a lawnmower. Hurry up!"
The soldier stood to attention and saluted the commander. He had to act quickly to save his commander.Then he held the scissors between his teeth, began crawling through the greenery on his belly and cutting the grass, like a brave soldier who cuts the barb wire with his wire cutter.
Uncle Larry shouted, "Carry on!" 
The soldier, cutting the grass fast, proceeded forward hastily, until Larry's laugh filled the forest. Mr. Assistant looked up at him and asked angrily, "Why are you laughing? I acted upon your suggestion."
Uncle Larry couldn't help laughing, "Put the scissors away. I was joking with you"
 Mr. Assistant was struck by what Uncle Larry said. he stood up, shaking his head sadly.
Uncle Larry, "I'm sorry. Suppose today is the thirteen day of Iranian new year. It called Sizdah be-dar, the Day of the lie." then he turned his attention to the sneakers."The solution to the problem is glittering." he said, pointing at the glitter heart.
Mr. Assistant's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Think like Parmis! a long journey begins with tying up the sneakers." Uncle Larry said as he bent down to tie up his shoes.

Mr. Assistant grinned, "No, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so we must tie the sneakers?"
Larry shook his head, "No. On nature day, Iranians tie the leaves of the greenery and make a wish to find a partner ."
Mr. Assistant stood aside, "Knot the greenery yourself; I tied the knot with my partner some years ago."
Larry agreed, "All right, Parmis travels a lot. I'll tie the grass, and wish her a safe journey."

Uncle Larry pretended to tie the leaves of greenery with a knot, at that point a flash of lighting lit the sky, and the dense forest vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. 

Mr. Assistant asked, "What happened?" 
Uncle Larry smiled, "If bring two electric wire together, you'll produce a flash. Just as we arrived here, I checked the shoestrings and found out they were electric wires not shoelaces."
Mr. Assistant, "Oh, I see. You are very smart. There are a couple of questions about Sizdah Be-dar that I want to ask you." 

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