The exercise:
Write about: the election.
Another Federal Election, another minority Liberal government for Canada. As I said last time around, anything is better than the Conservatives leading our government in any way, shape, or form.
Also: so far the local candidate I voted for looks to be getting re-elected as well. So... as good as things could reasonably be expected to go, I'd say.
2 comments:
Well, either you're a good predictor the country overall, or you're at least getting things the way you'd like them in a small neighbourhood of yourself. Both seem like quite good outcomes :) And yes, at the moment 'conservative' is a label trying to disguise 'fascist' in a lot of western countries, and anything is better than that because, if 100 years ago is a good indicator, the rise of fascism will lead to war again.
Election
Chuckles was either drunk or asleep, neither of which I'd seen before, and I hesitated at the door wondering if I should try waking him or just step over him. As I thought about it a hand came to rest on my shoulder and my spine stiffened so quickly that I must have appeared to grow five centimetres instantaneously.
"He's drunk," said Kraulik's voice. "He's been getting drunk a lot lately. Ever since his suggestion of elections was taken up."
"We're on a boat in the middle in the ocean," I said. "Have you looked over the side lately? The splashy stuff, that's how you can tell. What do we need elections for?"
Kraulik edged me aside; he's a muscular man though he wears loose jackets and shirts to try and conceal it. I don't know how well he succeeds, but I know that I'm probably not the only one to have spotted what he's doing. He pushed open the door to the engine room and it creaked slightly. Chuckles didn't stir, and now he was like a draught-excluder lying in front of a pitch-dark portal into nothingness.
"Literally the middle of nowhere," said Kraulik. His voice seemed a little intense. "Doesn't that surprise you, just a touch? And elections are... I think Chuckles was hoping to change the power-structure on the ship. He's pretty upset it didn't work." He reached inside the door, his fingers feeling around beyond the frame until he found the lightswitch. Bright white lights came on and revealed the heavy machinery of the engine room. We walked through the doorway and he closed the door behind us.
"I'm more surprised that they didn't just sink the boat when we got here," I said. "Since they didn't, I figure this has to be a trap of some kind. But is it for us or someone else?"
"Or something else," said Kraulik. I stared at him but he turned away from my gaze and started looking over the machinery. "What are you doing down here anyway?"
"I should ask you the same thing," I said. "I was out for a night-time walk before I went to bed."
"A constitutional?" Kraulik sounded amused. "Well, maybe I was too. And maybe we both ended up down here by pure coincidence."
I smiled, but my lips twisted wryly as I did so. I didn't believe him, and he didn't believe me.
"I keep looking at the engines," I said. "There must a reason they weren't destroyed beyond repair you know. It's like they've been turned off in a clever way, and we could figure out what they did, we could turn them back on again."
"Something's still running," said Kraulik. "I just can't find it."
"What do you mean?"
He sighed, and started walking between the towering blocks of metal. "The ship doesn't move much, and that can only happen if there's something compensating for the movement of the water. So there's some engine working, quietly, to keep us in place."
"I thought we were anchored," I said.
"Anchors drag. Especially ones five hundred metres down on a sea-bed no-one's ever seen."
"So...?"
"So we're definitely waiting for something," said Kraulik. "But I have no idea what."
Greg - funny(?) thing is, the People's Party of Canada (who are very clearly lunatics) definitely took votes away from the Conservatives, and the difference between the NDP candidate in my riding and the Conservative was less than the number of votes the PPOC idiot got.
So... I mean, that's worrying that he even got that much support, but it worked out for now?
I may have mentioned this already, but man this is so good. The quiet engine bit still working is a fantastic reveal.
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