Daria's Sneaky Idea

One upon a time, Daria and Maryna were sitting on the sofa watching Eurovision. It was an epic singing competition to determine once and forever who was the most talented country: Moldova or Liechtenstein. Daria couldn't help but notice Maryna munching on a plate of pickled tomatoes. "Those pickled tomatoes look super tasty," said Daria. "Think I could have one?"
"Oh, Daria. I really wish I could share. But I'm having some financial difficulties right now. If only there were a way for me to make some extra money. Then I would be able to spare a few of these pickled tomatoes."
"Well, actually, I have an idea. Space tourism. We'll send vacationers to Mars for a week or three. We just need to build a rocket. And a few resorts, I suppose. If I can have 45 minutes of your time, I would like to show you my entire PowerPoint presentation."
"Oh my!" exclaimed Maryna after seeing the entire plan. "Let's get started. We need a website. We need to put out an announcement. We will be so rich that we will be able to burn money in the fireplace to stay warm in the winter."

DO YOU ENJOY TRAVELING? HOW ABOUT RELAXING AT 3-STAR RESORTS? IF YOU ANSWERED "YES" TO BOTH QUESTIONS, DO WE HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU! WE ARE ORGANIZING A TRIP TO MARS AND WOULD LIKE YOU TO JOIN! ALL MEALS WILL BE PROVIDED BOTH DURING THE ROCKET JOURNEY AND WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE RESORT. ONLY $20,000. BUT ACT FAST! THERE IS LIMITED ROOM ON THE ROCKET. ALSO, PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SPACE SUITS.

A week later, 22 space adventurers showed up in front of the Lviv Opera House to begin the journey. They were all wearing improvised space suits. One had wrapped himself in aluminum foil. Another wore a cardboard box with NASA drawn onto it. A third had a fishbowl on his head. The girls collected their money and handed each of them a ponchik as a snack. That's when things hit a snag. "Maryna," whispered Daria, "we forgot about the rocket ship." Thinking very quickly, Daria attached some paper wings onto a nearby Lada. "There's the, um, rocket. Have a safe journey!" Daria and Maryna ran away, laughing at their clever scheme.

A few weeks later the girls were sitting on a large pile of money while watching Disney's Frozen as Maryna ate a plate of pickled onions. "I wonder what our customers thought about the Mars vacation," Daryna thought.
"Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's take a look at the reviews."
The girls checked out the reviews on their website and were shocked to discover that most of the customers had given them 5-star reviews with a few 4-star reviews as well. One of the tourists had given it 2-stars because she felt the chicken served for dinner was a bit too dry.
"What??? They actually made it to Mars? There were resorts up there? How is this possible?" asked Maryna.
"Okay, I have a confession. I felt guilty about just taking their money. So I quickly sent some construction workers up there to build a resort. I also sent some restaurant and hotel staff."
"Oh, that is the nicest thing anybody has ever done. Here, have a pickled onion."
"Thanks, but actually giving me a pickled onion is the nicest thing anybody has ever done."
The girls laughed and laughed and laughed. All...evening...long.

THE END