Aaron Christopher

     The sun reached its highest point over the village of Miyate.  And the people of the town sought shelter from the heat.  Most just went into their homes. Others found the shade of one of the few trees growing within the city limits.  The temperature outside quickly rose to about 104 degrees.  And so the streets were empty.  A stale wind blew across the streets.  It kicked up dust that hissed as it hit the sides of various buildings.  Apart from the wind it was now absolutely silent.  
     Ted Hartford looked out the window of his small barber shop.  It was another slow day in his business.  Lately, Ted had been having a great deal of slow days.  He had invented many things for him to do during these times.  Not one of these things were useful.  For instance, he would see how quickly he could pump the barber chair up to its maximum height, then he'd let it down and try to break that record.  Trying to juggle combs and reading the outdated magazines on the rack were among his other activities.  When all this got boring he tended to just stare out the window at people.  On hot days there was no one to look at but himself.  So Ted laid down to nap for an hour or two.   Hopefully when he woke up the hot part of the day would be over.  Or better yet, he'd have a customer.  
     Lilly Martin lived across the way from the local diner.  She too was hiding from the hot day, along with all six of her children.  Lilly sat calmly rocking her chair too and fro as she peered out the window.  All the children had been laid down for their naps except Andrew, who had outgrown naps.  He was in his room reading a book.  Lilly always believed in the seen and not heard attitude with children.  She also believed that taking a step further, "Not seen or heard," was even better.  The children were all very well behaved.  This amazed most locals who would never have believed a single mother could keep her children in line so well.  Lilly wasn't all that amazed.  In fact she knew that if her husband was still around the house, the whole place would be in anarchy.  She was proud of her achievements as a mother, and having been able to support them all.  She worked at the diner across from her home.  It was decent pay and her boss Michael Lutawitz was kind enough to charge her next to nothing for rent on the house.  Lilly had every reason to proud of herself, but this didn't make her happy all the time.  She was lonely. And everyone in town knew it.  She needed a husband badly, unfortunately it'd been over five years since anyone had even thought about applying for the job.  It was probably because of the kind of man Lilly needed.  She needed a strong man, someone who was willing to stare her down and stand up from himself.  He had to know when to sternly say "No Lilly.".  Needless to say the right man hadn't come along yet.
     Just on the outskirts of town, there was a old run down shack that appeared to have been built in the 1800's.  This was the home of the Captain.  No one knew what he was a captain of. Some thought that he didn't either.  He knew why he was a captain.  At least he thought he did. The shrapnel he took to the forehead in Nam was part of his memory block.  That and the doctor dropped him on his head right after he was born.  Fourteen times.  The Captain was pacing back and forth inside of his tiny home.  He was once again planning out the town's strategies in the case of an invasion.  An invasion by whom was a question that couldn't really be answered, but you must always be prepared.  
     On the opposite side of town the invasion was coming.  It wasn't a battalion of troops or a division of tanks though.  It was a Cadillac.  The car was cruising along toward the town with a long tail of dust swirling behind it.  And no preparations made by the Captain could stop this.  It rolled into town, slowing to a stop.  The tinted windows protected the drives identity, but when he stepped out of the car no one recognized him anyway.  He wore the fanciest clothes anyone had ever seen.  The man was of medium height and build, had brown hair and blue eyes.  The mustache he wore on his face stretched way beyond his cheekbones and curled up and around like a ringmaster at a circus.  He slammed the door of his car shut and glanced around with a huge grin on his face.   It was the kind of grin that makes you wonder if they're happy or they know something you don't.      Ted jumped awake as the Cadillac door was shut.  He had been dreaming of a bus load of just recently reformed hippies that wanted him to cut all their hair.  So the Cadillac was a bit of a disappointment to him.  The passenger left much to be desired as well.  His hair was very short. So short that the odd cap the man wore almost hid the fact that he even had hair.  Ted sighed as he stood up and walked over to the window to get a better look.  This man didn't have any business for him, but at least something was going on outside.  Ted wasn't sure what, but something was definitely going on.
     The stranger walked casually back to the trunk of the car and proceeded to unlock and open it.  He rummaged around inside the trunk for a short time and pulled out a large box.  The box didn't appear to be very heavy as he walked down the street toward the center of town.  The smile he had started with remained glued to his face.  He continued to look around the town as he walked further up the street.  Reaching the dead center of town the man set down the box and sat down on it.  He slowly dragged an object out of a pocket on the inside of his suit jacket.  It was a pocket knife.  After he pulled the knife out he proceeded to pull a pear out of another pocket.  Now with the blade of the knife revealed he began to slowly cut the skin off the edge of the pair.  Each thin chunk of green spiraled down.  As piece by piece kissed the ground the very fabric of time seemed disrupted.  A puff of dust rose like brown smoke around their place of rest.  And within in seconds the wind had quietly burried it.  He sunk the knife deep into the hunk of now skinned pear and cut slices off placing each one into  his mouth.
     Lilly was giggling to herself as she watched the foolish man sitting in the middle of town. "Andrew get in here!"  Andrew obeyed and came down from his room promptly.  "Did you see that man out there?"
     "No mum."  Andrew leaned over to look out the window.
     "Well he's doing the silliest things.  First he pulled a box out of his car over yonder and then he dragged it over there and just plopped himself down and started munching on that hunk of fruit!"  Lilly chuckled again.  "You even seen anything like that?"
     "No mum." Andrew smiled at his mother, very grateful he wasn't in trouble.
     "Perhaps he's crazy!  Wouldn't that be interesting!  I've never seen a real crazy person!" Lilly was growing excited at the idea.  "Imagine that, a crazy person in Miyate!" She laughed out loud and had to catch herself lest she wake the other children.  "You can back to your room now Andrew.  I just wanted to share that with you."  She patted him gently on the head and smiled.
     "Yes mum." Andrew turned and quietly went back to his room.  Lilly stared out the window again.  Still beaming at the thought of a real crazy person.  All she had to do now was think of a way to meet him.
     The temperature outside had gone down considerably since the young stranger had arrived.  And so people had begun to find their way out of their homes.  It would have been back to business as usual but now there was a monkey wrench in the machine of their day to day routine.  And the wrench had a knife.  It wasn't a really big knife.  Never the less it was a knife. So people avoided that part of the street for a good half hour.  Finally though, the good people of Miyate couldn't control themselves, and so they all began to approach the stranger from different directions.  The stranger smiled even bigger as they approached.  He had finished his pear and placed the knife's blade back in the closed position then dropped it in his pocket.  The people drew closer and closer to him.  Not one person said a word.  It was as if the man had some sort of power to silently draw them all in. Without much warning the man lofted himself up on top of the box again this time standing.  The people jumped back in fear at his sudden movement.  The stranger smiled all the more.  
     Lilly pushed her way through the crowd to the front and walked right up to the man.  He looked down at her with a enchanting grin.
     "Are you crazy?" Lilly asked rather plainly.  The man smiled shook his head.  "Well can you talk?"  The man nodded his head in reply.  "Well say something!"  He smiled again and held up his finger for a little more time.  "Well I think you're crazy!"  
     The crowd murmured and cowered in embarrassment at Lilly's statements.  She always made her opinions real clear to everyone.  And it was times like these that everyone wished she had a husband that could shut her up.
     Ted had emerged from his barber shop with his apron still on and had joined the curious crowd.  He knew that this was not going to be just another ordinary day.  And so he smiled right back at the stranger, happy to see something unique going on in this sleepy town.  The most exciting thing this town had had in the last fifteen years was the Captains attempt to set land mines around the perimeter of the bank.  The Johnson's lost their dog because of that.  Now that he was thinking of the Captain he began to wonder why the Captain wasn't out here yet trying to shoot or at least frisk the new comer.  
     Just then the Captain did emerge from the south side of the crowd.  He was in full army fatigues as usual, but for some reason he wasn't armed today.  Perhaps the Captain knew this stranger, possibly remebering him from an old war of some sort.  It wasn't likely though, since he rarely remebered where he lived.
     "Good people of Miyate." Finally the man had spoke. "I have come to you with a proposition."  Various people stirred at this statement.  "I have a dream to share with you."
     "A crazy dream?" Lilly probed.
     "No, a dream you can all share with me!"  Now he had the crowd's undivided attention. And he took advantage of it.  His speech was powerful and strong.  Full of religion and patriotism.  It stirred the heart of every man, woman, and competent child there.  He spoke of revolution and a new start.  And above all absolute happiness.  No one to this day could ever repeat or deliver such a powerful speech as he did that day.  It tugged at the very soul.  And no person could resist the urge to follow him.  By the time he was done the crowd was in a frenzy. They wanted action and they wanted it now.  The Captain was inspired above all the others and imediately offered to deploy his armoured personel carrier to transport up to thirty five of the strangers new found diciples.  The people all got in there car's like zombies and followed the beautiful Cadillac.  Leaving the village of Miyate a ghost town.
     They drove for many miles.  Stopping at every town along the way, and then leaving the town just as empty as Miyate .  Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. And the army of civilians grew and grew in number and might.  They would follow their Cadillac driving leader to the very end.  And so it would be so.  Their leader lead on and on with the help of the Captain who presented the law and order to the masses.  The Captain seemed to have lost a part of his insanity with this sudden amount of responsibility.  In fact it seemed that no one remembered him being any different than he was now.  
     Lilly still couldn't find a husband in the thousands and thousands of men to choose from.  She would always cheer herself up by reminding herself that "At least she was out of the house". The children were also glad to get out of school.  A activity that seemed rather trivial to everyone now as the bumper of the mighty Cadillac glistend in the sun before them.  It would lead them to knowledge and glory soon.
     Ted had found his calling.  The offical barber of the leader and all his diciples was the kind of title he had always been looking for.  Not only that but this was the best times he had had since he had gotten beyond high at Woodstock oh so long ago.  The best part of his new job was that something was always going on.  And ted loved that.  He also loved the new and beautiful scenery.  For as the community developed into a metropolis on the move the country they once lived in had slowly become wild and free.  And Ted was finally at peace.
    Twenty five years after the journey began, the Cadillac stopped in its tracks.  The line of cars, trucks, buses, and semis all loaded with people  also came to a stop.  The caravan stretched out over the highway for over a hundred and fifty miles.  The leader stepped out of his car.  The hints of grey could be seen on his moustache.  He still looked just as inspiring though.  Perhaps more so.  The people filled up both lanes with their vehicles and then made a circle around him. Within an hour all the his followers were around him.  He got out the box once again.  And began to peel an orange.  The rine melted away from the treasure inside and dismissed itself to the ground without protest.  I imagine it had never happened before and it may never happen again.  It's hard to invision over two million people watching a man eat an orange in silence. The smell eminated throughout the front rows of the crowd, as he placed slice after slice into his mouth.  When the orange was finished he stood up on the box and looked around at all the faces of the lives he had touched.  The silence was deafening.  
           The Captain handed him a megaphone. "It is time now that I told you the secret to life." The crowd smiled and nodded in enthusiasm.  "I know many of you like me are very tired."  The people grumbled in dispute of this comment.
     "We'd follow you into the sea, Leader!" The Captain took stood tall and pround beside his leader.
     "Never the less we have reached the time in which I must share with you what this life means.  I have traveled the world.  I have seen many things.  I have seen the light of every religion.  And it has shined upon me.  I know much more than most men will ever want to know about who we are and what we are to do.  And still it has taken me this long for people to listen. Now finally I have opened your eyes.  And you will see what life truly means."  The crowd was beaming with anticipation.  "Look around you what do you see?"  
     The crowd looked around at the landscape surrounding this point at which they were about to receive the ultimate in enlightenment.  There were mountains in the distance and prairie grass all around blowing in the breeze.  The sun beat down on their heads but was not hot.  The breeze that crossed the land was a comfort and joy.          
     "The secret to life, is ......." He paused ever so slightly, knowing that the crowd was pondering every syllable.  "Fish are the root of all evil."  It couldn't have been more anticlimactic if he had tried.  The crowd groaned in agony.  
     "You're crazy aren't you."  Lilly shouted as she pushed her way to the front.
     "Yes, I am, but so are all of you."  He gently replied.
     The Captain's slowly lowered his head and looked at the ground.     
     The crowd screamed and began to insult their fallen leader as he attempted to explain.
     "Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"  And that was the last
coherent thing he ever said.  The mob turned on him as quickly as they had followed him.  They beat him into the ground.  And people went home, to start the journey again to find something to believe in.  The Captain stood alone beside the remains of his leader, his dream, and his salvation.  He had truly believed.  Perhaps he was the only one.