The origins of The End of the Wait are unclear, and many pieces of unproven speculation have been published by the Buentoilliçan universities (especially de Geers), but the general consensus is that this needn’t detract from the festival.
Celebrations on this day are highly idiosyncratic person to person, as is the essential meaning of the day. Some Buentoillitants choose to spend the day doing mundane tasks they have put off for too long, or similarly making lists and resolutions to resolve some part of their life which has been ‘left waiting’. Others (especially members of the Faucaust Sect who claim unverified ownership over the day) choose to deliberately put off something they usually indulge in for a month or so; be it chocolate, sex, popular music; and then re-indulge themselves with gusto today.
The post office also engages in the festival, ensuring that all the previous year’s post has been delivered by today. Similarly, many companies reveal new product lines during the festival; today Buentoille’s thriving music and digital games industries usually release hundreds of long-teased albums and games. In a piece published in the Ranaclois Herald about the large numbers of mental breakdowns which occur in these companies before The End of the Wait, Jeraldine Hait coined the term ‘wait syndrome’. This term has recently been picked up by the Union of Strong and Resolute Entertainment Workers (USREW) as a rallying cry against excessive working hours and pressure, in their fortnightly television segment, USREW Speaks.
Folklore has it that today is when the long-nested Gablelark eggs hatch, but various studies into the matter have proven this to be a falsehood.
The festival has recently been popularised in neighbouring Litancha, due to the cult film Waiting for Her, which features the memorable final scene set at the festival’s celebrations, in which the lonesome protagonist is reunited with her wife after a long stint at sea.
Other festivals happening today:
- Big Val’s Festival of Shapely Movers