The Statues

Me--A Short Story (Fiction) ^ | December 24, 2001 | cgbgjr

[cgbg]

(for comments, thoughts, whatever--This is a short story I felt had to be written.)

The Statues

Dr. King was more intense than usual as he took to the podium. Behind him were hundreds of television cameras and a bank of satellite dishes, wires, monitors, switches and dials.

We didn't understand what he was saying that day until it was too late. I guess we never really understood him at all--and we knew nothing about his family and how much they must have meant to him.

We had worked on this project like so many others over the years, late nights with the engineers away from our homes. Dr. King inspired that kind of loyalty in his top teams. Working for the Venge works was an act of love, and the great stock options didn't hurt.

"As you know today is Martin Luther King day, and we celebrate it here in Midland as we do in all our plants around this great country.

For those who may not be familiar with our company's history let me take this fine occasion to brag a little bit. When I joined the Venge Works ten years ago we were a small defense contractor working on research and development for the old "Star Wars" anti-missile defense systems. I worked with some brilliant and resourceful associates (and I see some of those friendly faces in the crowd). We changed the company's focus from defensive weapons to offensive nuclear weapons better suited to the new complex threats that face our nation. Today we can take great pride that we are the premier producers of suitcase, backpack, and other portable nuclear weapons that can be detonated remotely by satellite if necessary and therefore can be delivered to the doorstep of any potential adversary. We have developed new technologies to safely produce such weapons and shield them from prying enemy sensors. Our efforts have made us the premier defense contractor of the United States, and have made it possible to honor our workers and our communities with significant good works through the Venge Foundation.

Today let us pay our respects to that American hero, Dr. Martin Luther King. It is my great honor to read to you the inscriptions on the wonderful statues we are unveiling live from Coast to Coast. This is my proudest moment as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Venge Works, and I am so glad many of you are available at our many locations. This is a solemn occasion we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

As I read these quotes from Dr. King that are inscribed on the appropriate statue they will be unveiled one by one:

Atlanta--The judgement of God is on America now.
Birmingham--Today was a dark day. They turned them loose on nonviolent people, unarmed people.
Boston--Everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve.
Chicago--I have a dream today.
Dallas--I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blessed hopes.
Detroit--If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
....
New York--Freedom is not free.
....
Philadelphia--Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend
....
St. Louis--Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

All of these magnificent statues were manufactured here in our West Texas plant. How about a great round of applauses for our outstanding employees.

So, all the statues have been unveiled. I will now press the button to light all of the statues around the country. Count down with me please.

5
4
3
2

Oh, and before we turn on the lights let me mention a brief story about my family, they were inside our farm house when it was burned to the ground by angry mob, the smell of burning flesh and the ancient African war cries while world watched and did nothing as the scene was repeated over and over and over again and did you know one of my infant sons from Zimbabwe was named Martin and his brother Luther and for sixteen years I planned for this day and fled across the ocean and buried myself in my studies to get my PHD in nuclear physics and then found the right company for me and my fellow refugees. 1"

A voice in the crowd yelled "Oh no, my God, no!"

"0".

[cgbg]

(for comments, thoughts, whatever--This is a short story I felt had to be written.)

[HiTech RedNeck]

eerie

[Dark Skies]

Good story! Thx.

[bankwalker]

bump to a good, short, read.

Well done!!

[null and void]

*ouch*

[pax_et_bonum]

Thank you for posting.

bttt

[Hegemony Cricket]

Chilling, plausible...