Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 35 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts    H4'ed 6/5/11

Short Story: "Terrifying Vindication"

By       (Page 3 of 11 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   1 comment
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Philip Zack
Become a Fan
  (13 fans)

He turned up an old post by a local blogger by the name of Gina Heuff, who had an annoyingly lyrical writing style. In it, she compared a civil crowd to the smoothly flowing water in a stream, the chaos of mob rule to white-water turbulence, and what happened that day to a descent into what she called 'the fractal social void'. He paused after reading the phrase, and, while gazing out the window at the shifting constellations of headlights, streetlights and office lights, tried to imagine what she meant by it. All he got for the effort was a headache.

Clicking to her home page, he scanned her most recent post, which was about her plan to attend the next day's healthcare reform town hall meeting. She'd been watching the insurance-industry's orchestrated 'grass-roots' crowds that had been disrupting Democratic congressmembers' attempts to discuss the public option during the summer recess, and mused that the explosive, yet strangely controlled, situation could cause a recurrence of what she believed had happened the night of the meltdown mob. Katzmarek committed the placid face in the picture to memory, and resolved to seek her out the next day so he could ask her some questions.

There was already a snarling mob of sign-brandishing political puppets outside the high school gymnasium when he arrived, so he slowly walked past them, wincing at the illogic of their canned deceit, while looking for the brunette in the picture. Considering her desire to re-enter that fractal void, he could imagine her joining the angry mob, even if she opposed what they were doing. Satisfied that she wasn't among them, he headed inside, to tackle the considerably more difficult job of first spotting her from a distance, and then angling an interview in the midst of all the shouting.

The memory of Heuff's stilted prose colored his perception of the crowd as he drifted with it through the floodgates of the open gym doors and into the turbulent, echoing reservoir in which the scent of a different sort of competition stirred the subconscious of the crowd, energizing them for combat.

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Then, blinking free of the borrowed claustrophobic imagery that had overtaken his normally analytic mind, he made his way towards the right side wall, from where he could see the majority of the crowd. He was intently examining each of the female faces across the gym, when he felt someone come up close beside him.

"Aren't you...?" a woman's voice quavered uncertainly. "Aren't you that guy who's been tracking down the meltdown mob?"

He turned to look at her. "Yes, I ---."

"What are you doing here?"

Katzmarek grinned in amusement. It was Gina Heuff. "Looking for you, as it happens."

"Me? Why? I wasn't a party to the case."

The sound system came on with a squeal of feedback, and someone from the school system started fawning over Congressman Woburn by way of introduction. A scattering of catcalls turned the amplified remarks into a staccato of fractured sentences.

"I wanted to ask you about your theory," he said close to her ear, "about what might have happened that day."

She looked at him quizzically. "My theory?"

Woburn, a Democrat who had presented the image of an active Post Office retiree during his campaign by not coloring his thick white hair, took the microphone, and asked the crowd to raise their hands if they had health insurance. Then he asked those who had private insurance to lower their hands. "The rest of you with your hands up," he said, "all have government-run health care."

A scattering of epithets crisscrossed the crowd.

"Okay, then," he said, slowly scanning the raised hands, "how many of you are opposed to allowing other people to also have government-run health care?"

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Philip Zack Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Ever since I learned to speak binary on a DIGIAC 3080 training computer, I've been involved with tech in one way or another, but there was always another part of me off exploring ideas and writing about them. Halfway to a BS in Space Technology at (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Short Story: "Forced Inquiry"

Short Story: "Health Care Reform"

Short Story: "Terrifying Vindication"

The Dance of Consent

First Followers; and Tiptoe-Caused-Avalanches of Change

Short Story: "The Phoenix Narrative" (6th in a series)

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend