Naughtyville Town Revelation Portable ✦ No Ads

“The name ‘Naughtyville’ was a joke,” Miss Purl explained, her good eye twinkling. “A secret handshake. But the Properton folk heard about it and spread the lie that it was a place for failures. They needed a bogeyman to keep their own children obedient.”

“Gather ’round, you reprobates,” she cackled, and the townsfolk—a motley crew of ex-pirates, retired bank robbers, and children who’d been slightly too good at lying —obediently shuffled closer. naughtyville town revelation

The revelation was this: Naughtyville had never been a punishment. “The name ‘Naughtyville’ was a joke,” Miss Purl

“You mean,” said a small girl named Wednesday, who had once glued her teacher’s chalk to the ceiling, “we’re not bad?” They needed a bogeyman to keep their own children obedient

By nightfall, the news had spread. The mayor (still in his bathrobe) declared a festival. The baker, who’d once substituted salt for sugar just to see what would happen, baked a cake shaped like a middle finger. The town sign, which had read “Naughtyville: Turn Back Now,” was quietly amended with a ladder and a can of paint: “Naughtyville: Turn Back if You Can’t Take a Joke.”