President Biden stepped forward toward "the beast" - the presidential limousine. Instead of getting into the car, he deftly stepped on the rear bumper, then on the deck, and finally to the top of the vehicle. Somebody had handed him a bullhorn.
A hush fell over the crowd.
"Folks, here's the deal. Number one, you elected me President. By the way, that's a job I take very seriously. The fact of the matter is, that guy in the White House doesn't belong there.
Come on, man - come out of there. Look - your supporters have left you. It's time. Come on out!"
The bullhorn was handed down to an assistant. Biden stood facing the White House in silence. The crowd held its breath for a few seconds. Then somebody yelled, "Come on out!" Within seconds, two million voices bellowed the demand. "Come on out! Come on out! Come on out!"
She picked up her puzzle. "That's the shortest speech I ever heard."
I had to agree. "The best, too."
The door to the diplomatic reception room opened slowly as the voices of the crowd subsided. Melania Trump took several small steps toward the crowd as reporters rushed forward. From out of the scrum emerged a figure who turned toward the reporters and gestured for them to stop. Vice President Harris put an arm around Mrs. Trump and escorted her to a waiting limousine. They both stepped in as the door closed and the car pulled away through the parting crowd.
One by one, White House staff emerged from the doorway - all the other entrances had been sealed. Kitchen staff, personal attendants, and even security personnel were escorted to vans waiting near the Kennedy Garden. Nobody was smiling as they proceeded to interrogation. There was no sign of Trump or his cabinet members.
Capitol police began to move the crowd away from the mansion as ambulances approached from the southeast gate. Something had happened inside.
Carol had lost interest in her puzzle. "Didn't Hitler take cyanide too?"
"No, he shot himself." Years ago I'd been fascinated with the Third Reich. "But most of the others in the bunker took cyanide. Including Eva Braun."
The transfer of power from the Trump regime to the new administration was technically peaceful inasmuch as the military and police didn't significantly engage in violence. But more than five million Americans had died. Some claim that the "B-Pandemic" - Covid 19b - saved our democracy and the nation from even greater loss of life. Widespread political violence was otherwise considered inevitable. All but a few hundred thousand died from the virus rather than the conflict itself.
Just days after moving into the White House, President Biden had suffered a debilitating stroke that took his life a week later. Forty-seven years of public service faded from the nation's memory, to be forever replaced by the indelible image of strength as he stood atop The Beast on that fateful day.
Thirty-six state legislatures, many of them now controlled by women, applied for a Constitutional Convention. The events of the past year sparked a renewed interest in the termination of the Electoral College system, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and the restructuring of the United States Supreme Court.
As a fresh wave of optimism swept the United States, a new world order was beginning to emerge. The new order was based on the feminine values of cooperation and nurturing rather than competition and force. And as the US was welcomed back into the world community, President Harris stood as America's symbol of strength and progress - a symbol that was once again genuinely respected.
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