Titipu Christmas Party-SIMS-page1

This story began innocently enough during the previous summer,
when koko the Tailor acquired a telescope for his birthday.
He began searching the stars every night in hopes of being
the first man in Titipu to find a UFO. He had not been very
successful, and it was quite disappointing.

Now, you may wonder what this has to do with
Christmas, but I promise you will soon understand.
Our real story began on a chilly December morning
ariund the breakfast table, when Koko said to the
Three Little Maids (from school) that it was high
they had a party. Ever since he'd become Lord High
Executioner of Titipu(a thankless job which really did
not suit him), he no longer seemed to have any friends.
It just wasn't fair, and so he thought a nice party
was in order, with food, presents, decorations, and
all the trimming.
The three girls, being teenagers, had to agree that
ever since they came home from the Titipu Geisha Academy,
Their social life had not been what it used to be, either.
Perhaps Koko was right. Something needed to be done.

"We can run down to the Nursery today!" He exclaimed.
They always have some lovely trees, and they deliver."
Yum-Yum and peep-Bo thought this was a wonderful idea,
Pitti-Sing was particularly excited. She had been
quite bored after a summer of watching for UFOs with
Koko, and the thought of a real party made her want
to dance with joy. "Let's do it!" She cried, laughing.
And so the decision was made.

And so it was off to the Titipu Nursery - that fabled market of fresh produce, seeds packets, potted plants, and excellent seasonal goodies. They were known, among other things, to have some very good Christmas trees.
"We'll split up," said Pitti-Sing. "Peep-Bo, you can pick out the yard decorations. Yum-Yum, you can select the lights. As for me, I'll help select the trees." She made sure that it was heard to be the plural of trees instead of just one.
There were certainly enough trees there for everyone's taste, and they came in all shapes and sizes.

It was surprisingly dark and quiet among all those big
evergreen trees, and Koko rather enjoyed the feeling
of being there. He wondered if fairies had ever come there
or aliens from other planets! But no, he told himself,
that was a silly idea. besides, he was looking for a
few good trees.
He wondered, though, where the three girls had gotten
themselves off to. All of them were quite capable of
mischief on their own. Especially Pitti-Sing.

Pitti-Sing had indeed been up to "mischief", and had
prematurely started chattering about the big Christmas
party that was being planned. Even Darkmoon, the former
geisha who had retired to the village, and was rumored to
now be practicing witchcraft, was interested.
"Have you heard?" She whispered. "The Lord High
Executioner is going to have a Christmas party, and
everyone will be invited. He had better invite ME!"
She added, not sounding as if it would be a good thing
to slight her. She talked about it most of all with Kiyone,
who she didn't know very well at all, but who in fact lived
in the big house on the next hill, across from Koko's Castle.
"You don't say!" said Kiyone. "He had better invite me, too.
My roommates and I just love parties."

Well, it proved to be a very long morning, and the
girls got quite a lot of shopping done, and they
managed to spend a great deal of koko's money.
At last, quite worn out and hungry, Yum-Yum and
Pitti-Sing sat down on a convenient bench while
Peep-Bo went across the road to buy some onigiri
and roasted tofu sticks for lunch, and Koko bought
cold drinks from an indoor vending machine.
"I am so tired I think my feet will wear off if I
have to walk another step!" Pitti-Sing complained.
Yum-Yum said nothing, but just sat there, wriggling
her sore toes. At last, she went inside to find the
ladie's room - to "powder my nose" she said delicately.

Tired of sitting by herself, Pitti-Sing noticed a little
girl seated across from her on another bench.
"Hi!" said the girl. "My name is Bee, and i'm eight.
What's your name?"
"I'm Pitti-Sing, and I'm fifteen." said Pitti, and she
went to sit on the other bench.
"Please to meet you," said Bee-Chan. I live with my sister,
Honey. She's seventeen."
"What a coincidence." Piiti-Sing said. "I have two sisters
who are seventeen and eighteen, and we all live with the
Lord High Executioner - that's a long story - and we're
going to have a big Christmas party? Want to come?"
"I'd love to," said Bee-Chan. "What do you like to do?
"I like to read books about outer space. Do you think we
will ever meet people from other planets?"
To this, pitti-Sing scoffed, "I don't think there's any
such things as aliens. We looked through the telescope
all last summer for UFO's, and we didn't see a thing."
"Oh," said Bee-Chan, who sounded very disappointed -
but only for a moment. "You don't suppose Santa Claus
is an alien, do you?"
To this, pitti-Sing just laughed.

Noon became afternoon, and it was time to be getting on.
The Nursery owner assured Koko that everything would be
delivered that same day, and he decided to round up the
girls and go home. He had been followed for the past hour
by an Italian organ grinder, advertising Palmieri Brothers
Pizzas, so he took a business card and a flyer and noticed
that it was full of bargains.
"So Marco And Guiseppi Palmieri have moved to Titipu," he
grinned. He knew that other people from the Gilbert &
Sullivan world would sooner or later visit his home town.
Maybe they would help cater the Christmas Party.

At last they made it home, and the decoratins had all been delivered in a big delivery truck. With some help from the workmen,
the garlands, lights, and lawn decorations were set up e quickly than you might imagine,
and a row of tiny flocked trees. There were several bigger trees to take indoors, and
those would be decorated by Koko and his household. As darkness fell,
the lights came on and it was a sight to behold.
"It's gorgeous!" said Koko happily - just before he collapsed on the sidewalk from sheer exhaustion.
With a lady--like yawn, Yum-Yum fell down beside him and started to snore - delicately, of course.
As for pitti-Sing, she flopped down with her head in the gravel of the zen garden, and snored loudly.
The only one left standing was Peep-Bo, who as usual was left to do the work no one else wnated to do. She called up a servant to help her get the exhausted trio safely upstairs and into their beds.

And soon the day of the PARTY arrived....