A National Emergency

Quick response from the President

Seventeen guards were placed around the periphery of the building. No one was allowed in and no one was allowed out. News crews were also positioned near the entrance to the building waiting for something to happen.

The reporters at the White House, however, were very busy checking their microphones and cameras as the President was just minutes away from coming out and addressing the reporters and the country.

Reporter Dan Wisenheimer crammed the rest of his donut into his mouth then wiped the sugar crumbs off his beard and mustache. Then he wiped his hand clean on his trousers. Bringing his microphone up to his face, he tapped it with his fingers then spoke into it, “Check, check, check.” He then scratched his eye. Only after doing that did he remember that he was not supposed to touch his face.

A murmur swept through the room as the President entered. The murmur was followed by an intense silence.

The President spoke, “In light of the current situation I am hereby declaring a state of emergency. I have ordered a battalion of Marines to the quarantined building in question in order to form an impenetrable armed human wall around the building. The people in that building have been stricken with some very, very, very radical ideas. It is imperative that no one is allowed out of the building so that the rest of the population is not infected with those ideas. We simply cannot allow that to happen.”

Without taking any questions, the President turned and left the room.

Disappointed, yet with curiosity aroused, reporter Dan Wisenheimer put his microphone in his blazer pocket and turned to leave the room. From his other blazer pocket he pulled out his last donut, taking a large bite of it.

In the hallway Dan ran into an old reporter friend named Clint. They shook hands and said hello. As Dan spoke a tiny fragment of donut flew out of his mouth and landed on Clint’s tie.

A national TV network had broken in on regular programming with a special report covering the President’s very short speech. They had a degreed scientist on stand-by ready to give analysis. The anchorwoman quickly turned to Dr. Hans Knofler, “Dr. Knofler, you’re one of the most esteemed scientists in the world today. What do you make of the President’s actions?”

“Well, to put it in clinical terms, the President’s plan is pure poppycock. He can keep those people quarantined in that building for the rest of their lives and while that would keep them in the building it will not keep their ideas from leaving the building. Marines with guns can’t hold back ideas. Their ideas have gone out into the field of mass human consciousness already and through that field other humans will pick it up.”

The stunned anchorwoman quickly turned to another analyst; a popular noted noggin doctor named Dr. Lucille Smartsberg, “As a highly regarded psychologist, what is your take on this?”

Dr. Hans Knofler did not wait to hear the noggin doctor’s response. He quickly stood and left the studio. In the hallway he was surrounded by armed guards who then escorted him to an unmarked government van in the parking lot.

Meanwhile, back at the quarantined building the Marines had arrived and so had thousands of spectators. The reporters were now out of their vehicles interviewing random people on the street.

An unmarked government van arrived and armed guards escorted a man through the line of Marines to the front door of the building. They tossed the man inside and then returned to their van.

As the crowd continued to grow and the noise level intensified, there was a lone man walking through the crowd with a tray in front of him that was tied to a strap that hung from the back of his neck. He was quietly selling donuts to the spectators.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a piece of fiction. Complete White Feather Archive Index

This story is dedicated to Mark Starlin .