Special thanks to Red Raven on Twitter who encouraged me to write this short story!
He’s here. I open my front door to
see my best friend who I’ve known since high school.
“Hey, Jake. It’s been a while since
I last saw you,” I say as I shake his hand.
“It’s great to see you too, Alex. I’m
glad that we’re working together.”
“I know right? Come on in and sit
down. Everyone else is already here.”
A couple of our other friends from
high school and college join us for dinner at my house. As we sit at the table,
I get flashbacks from our days in the past.
“Ah, doesn’t this bring you back?”
Jake says to me.
“I was just thinking that, so what
can I help you with?”
“This is going to sound crazy, but
we need you to spearhead our revolution.”
“Revolution, what are you talking
about?”
“I’m talking about rebelling against
the society we live in. Are you really happy with your job?”
“Well…”
“What about everything going on out
there? What about the stupid things the politicians and greedy businesspeople
get away with?”
“Uh…I don’t know. I can write
against it.”
“I know you’ve been, but you’re
going to be doing more than writing. You’re going to be speaking.”
“Are we going to do some kind of
online podcast or something?”
“We’re going to do more than that.
Chris and his father here work in the government’s online protection agency and
they are going to do a few things to bring about real change and you’re going
to go live to tell people what they should be doing.”
“This is crazy. You’re making it
sound like we’re going to take over the country.”
“That’s not what we’re doing. We’re
just doing what needs to be done. Think of us as Robin Hoods. What we’re doing
won’t hurt anyone and will help those in need. I promise you that.”
Jake has always had this smile on
his face that never goes away. He’s always encouraged me and other people with
it and he’s using it to get me to join his group of revolutionaries.
“If no one is going to get hurt and
if we’re doing the right thing, then I’m in,” I say with my hand out.
“That’s my best friend I remember,”
Jake says as he shakes my hand.
My friends and I have a little party
before making plans and getting ready. They already have everything together to
start their revolution. It’s astounding that they managed to get everything
together, but then again, they got jobs in government and business while I got
a simple desk job and work on my books at home. During the next day, I’m at a friend’s
house with everyone hyped to start trouble. I’m going to be dressed in a hoodie,
long pants, and a mask I made that’s inspired by a character in one of my
books.
While standing in front of the
camera, Jake asks, “Are you ready, boss?”
“Boss? You’re more of the boss than
I am.”
“No, you are. You’re the person in
charge here. You’re the person the country is going to see and admire. Act like
it.”
“Do you really think they’re going
to like my speech?”
“You’re a writer. Of course they’re
going to like your speech. I don’t know anyone else who would be perfect for
this job besides you. That’s why you’re doing it.”
“Ehh.”
“Hey, Alex. You can do this.”
That stupid smile of his.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“Perfect because we’re going live
in three, two, one! Go!”
I enter into my character’s persona.
“Hello, fellow Americans. I know
you’re all struggling to get by as others live in luxury and even profit off your
suffering. My heart especially goes out to the young people like me who must deal
with their parent’s mistakes and all the pressure the world puts on you. That’s
why I’m going to be your hero starting with your student debt. The rich who
profited off your need to make a living will pay your debts and they will pay
back with interest those who’ve already paid in full. I already know that they
don’t have enough to do this, so that’s why the colleges and schools will pay
their fair share as well. I don’t care if these so-called institutions of
learning fall. This scam known as “education” is a blight to society and I’ll see
it destroyed for what it’s done to society. We can build better institutions of
learning on our own. Look in what’s your bank accounts to see that I’m not
kidding you. The decision to build a better world with our own hands starts
today.”
The light on the camera goes off as
my friends cheer and crowd around me. They show me as people are celebrating in
the streets after they saw my message. The news is already reporting about what
we did and how the colleges, schools, and people who profit from education are
broke.
“See what I told you, Alex? You’re
an inspiration.”
“You’re right, Jake. I couldn’t
have done it without all of you.”
When we go out to celebrate, we
find people already having handmade copies of my mask and protesting in the
streets. My message is still being looped on some TVs that my friend’s dad has
managed to keep on despite the various networks’ best efforts.
“Hopefully it stays peaceful,” I say.
“Me too. Violence gives this a bad
image. I hope that masked guy will denounce the bad apples of the group.”
We all chuckle amongst ourselves as
we enjoy the change we’ve done to the country. During the next day, we set up another
message for the country.
“Okay, Alex. We’re going to be exposing
our opponents’ nasty secrets to get them out of their positions of power.”
“We’re going to be taking away
their jobs?”
“We’ve already taken away the jobs
of people in education. These are the same kinds of people that profit off of
debt and struggling citizens like us as well. Now come on, leader. Give us
another inspiring speech.”
“If you say so.”
“Hello, again my friends. I hope
you’re enjoying the new life I’ve given you. Unfortunately, some people don’t want you to have the life you deserve. They’d rather have you work
their tedious jobs for them rather than let you work the job you want. Speaking
about work, they won’t be working for long. I’ve exposed their deepest darkest
secrets for you to enjoy, so now they won’t be bothering us. If anymore try to
stand against us for their own benefit, I’ll tear them down one way or another.
The socialists, communists, libertarians, and capitalists will all go down in
flames and we’ll build a new world on their ashes. Don’t worry about resources
because whatever I take from them, I give to you. The future starts today. Our
time is now.”
This time when I look at the
results of my speech, I see more people rallying. There are even people in other
countries who are getting behind our message and protesting for change and
their rightful dues. Again, my friends and I celebrate by going to our favorite
restaurant. As we eat and talk, I’m reminded of the good days we had together,
but these days are even better. The next day comes quickly as we set up our
next act.
This time we go to a theme park
down the shore that we always used to go to every summer. Despite the rides
never really changing, it’s the fun and memories that kept us coming back.
After all the rides and enjoyment, we go to a restaurant bar as Chris takes out
his computer with his dad and get to work.
Unsure of what they’re doing, I ask
Jake, “What are they doing?”
“You’ll see. This theme park is a
common location for naysayers of our cause and they’re here today. They’re going
to learn that no place is safe from us.”
I watch as the rides malfunction.
Some especially have nasty stops that must’ve hurt.
“They’re going to be okay, right?”
“Yeah. A little jolt isn’t going to
kill them.”
“I hope so.”
When we get back to our friend’s house,
I start my next broadcast.
“Hello, my faithful followers. As
some of you might’ve heard on the local news, the local theme park home that
some of our enemies visit has had malfunctions with their rides. I claim full
responsibility for what happened. This is a show of power to tell our enemies
that no place is safe from me. From us. We will not rest until you either join
us or get out of our way. We don’t want anyone to be hurt. We only want the
freedom we’ve been denied. Do this and we can all live in peace. Don’t do this
and you’ll face the consequences.”
We don’t celebrate or do much after
my speech other than congratulate each other. If we haven’t made the authorities
mad, then we definitely have now, so we keep our head down until the next day when
we set up a surprise for them starting with my announcement.
“This is a message to the self-proclaimed
law coming after us. I’m not afraid of you. We are not afraid of you. To prove
that, I’m revealing my location to you. There’s nothing you can do that will
stop us from taking what is ours and living our lives on our terms. Let’s talk.
I’ll see you soon.”
Within a few hours on cue, several
SWAT groups enter our location, which is an old prison. They spread throughout
the building on the hunt for us. We activate the monitors in the building.
“Ah, so you’ve come. I’m glad that
you’ve done so. I can’t wait to talk to you to hear how you’ll come to terms with
me.”
“Fat chance, psycho!” a chief says.
Since he’s my target, I focus on
him.
“Chief Fred. I understand that your
daughter is a fan of mine.”
“You’ve filled her head with all kinds
of nonsense! I’ll see you pay for your crimes!”
“What crimes have I committed when
I’ve done so much good for the country?”
“You’ve ruined the lives of millions
of people by giving and taking money and power to whoever you want!”
“Isn’t that what the people in
power were doing anyway?”
“They didn’t steal it.”
“That’s what you think. They’ve robbed
millions of people of their lives with their greed. I’m just returning what is owed
to their victims.”
“Enough talking!”
He’s found me sitting in a cell at
a table with another chair for him. The chief approaches me with his pistol
drawn and aimed at my head.
“You’re under arrest.”
“Won’t you hear me out just for another
minute, chief?”
“No!”
“If you say so.”
I raise my hands in the air. The
chief comes over to put his cuffs around my hands only to discover…
“What? You’re a fake!”
The cell doors then close on him
and his team to trap them within the cells of the prison. Other versions of me
lured his teammates into the cells while I kept the chief busy.
“This is me or rather a robot of
me. Neat, ain’t it?”
“You liar! You said you would be here!”
“I’m here, chief. Just not where
you are.”
We get out of a hidden area of the
basement of the prison and emerge to a large crowd of people that we brought to
the prison.
“My friends! Inside that building
are the people who defend those who want to take your right to choose what kind
of life you want to live! Do what them what you will,” I say as I give them the
switch to operate the doors in the prison.
My friends and I leave as the crowd
charges into the prison. This occasion calls for a celebration at my house.
During the next day, we take a break and head out to a far off place in the
country to enjoy ourselves. We visit lots of historical locations, churches,
and stores to spend our newfound wealth on. The best part of it all was seeing
all the happy people. I don’t think I’ve seen that many people smiling at all.
I’m proud of what we’ve created together until we go back home to discover that
the law enforcement agents we trapped were killed by the people we sent in and many
others were hurt and killed because of what we’ve done. This haunts me even to
the next day when we have another party at my house with my friends, their
parents, and my parents here to celebrate our wealth.
My sins bother me so bad that I
leave and go to confession without saying anything to anyone.
When I return, Jake asks me, “Where
did you go?”
“To confession. I just felt like I had
to go.”
“It wasn’t for what we’ve done, right?
Because what we haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I hope not.”
Even though I went to confession, I
don’t feel that after confession sense of relief. It’s probably because I know
we’re going to do more things that will escalate the tension and violence in
the country. Sure enough, we go to our old high school for a meeting with
another SWAT team, but this time we actually are meeting them in person. We’ve brought
pistols and submachine guns with us in case anything goes wrong. As we enter
the school, my friends start spitting on the walls and floors assumingly to
disrespect it.
“Do you think we’re going to reach
a deal with them?” I ask Jake.
“Probably not.”
“What do you mean? I thought you
said-”
“It’s not likely. That’s why we
have these with us. What’s most likely going to happen is that we’re going to
get arrested or martyred here. The best-case scenario is that we escape with
our lives and a violent Civil War will start. Either way, the revolution will
enter its next stage.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it, Alex.
Everything is going according to plan.”
That smile that Jake always has is
starting to look creepy to me as he puts his hand on my shoulder.
“Now, take our leader to the
meeting area on the third floor. Everyone else should set themselves up for the
meeting.”
A girl that we know from our old
class leads me up to the meeting room. I was never a leader in any capacity,
was I? I was just a figurehead they used to get their message into the public.
It didn’t matter if I gave good speeches or not as long as the public got the
message. Were we even fighting for the youth of our country? A single political
party holds all the wealth and power in the country and money has become
useless if you’re not allied with the right people. We pretended to be heroes
and turned the rich into the poor and the poor into the rich. The poor have
become even worse than the people they hated with their abuse of power since
they don’t know how to use it and restrain themselves.
As I look down from the third floor,
I realize that my friend is here to stop me in case I decide to run. It’s
probably why she has her gun out and is looking dead at me. I must escape here
somehow…I have an idea. I don’t like it, but it’s my only one. I walk to the
door and look around outside.
“What’s up?” my friend asks.
“Nothing. I was thinking that the
authorities might send an assassin to get me or to enter through the other
areas of the school. They already know we’re meeting them at the front, so that
means…”
“Oh, I see. Good thinking, Alex. I’ll
watch the hallways. Just make yourself comfortable and ready your speech.”
“Right.”
While my friend is guarding the
door, I shoot her in the side of her head with my silenced pistol. I have to make it look like a suicide. I then switch our clothes, give her my mask,
and put the voice changer around her neck I used during my speeches to make her
look convincing as the leader. Even though I have to cross-dress to escape, it still
isn’t as shameful as what I’ve done. Quickly going down the stairs and out the
building, I manage to get into the crowd before the police see me.
When I get home, I change my outfit
and get rid of the one I wore. On tonight’s news, I hear that a shootout happened
at the school with no survivors. They talk about the leader being dead and that
her suicide being an indicator for the people that supported her to give up and
give back the power and the money that was given to them. What a mess we’ve
created. The path to Hell really is paved with good intentions.
The End
