Promises

Excuse me, sir. Sir? Yes, sir, do you remember me? Oh, no, no, no. It’s fine; I’m not that memorable. People seem to forget who I am all the time; a common face is what I have. But I remember you. Yes, it’s true. The first time we met was the fifth of November, seventeen years ago. I do remember you giving a wond’rous speech on that chilly eve, and I had to talk to you. Do you remember the one? It really had an impression on me. So did our most recent meeting, of five years ago.

Of course, that was then and this is now. I’m sure you’re wondering why I came to talk with you. You see, I have an interesting proposition to inform you of, if you’ll just follow me this way. Oh, you’re in a bit of a hurry? But I insist. Leave you alone? No, no. Like I said, I insist that you come with me.

Sorry about that. I didn’t want it to come down to this, but you really seemed persistent on leaving. Really, you shouldn’t have struggled as you did; your pain is your own doing. Here, have a seat. I know this building isn’t really of the sort you’re used to, but it’s humble surroundings such as this that tend to surround me, so this is all I can really provide. Would you care for a beverage before we get down to business? Are you sure? A shot of whiskey? Some brandy? Nothing? Really? Okay, have it your way. No, stay seated.

There, you see that? If you would just cooperate, I can stop hurting you. It’s within your power. Just look at that blood dripping from your nose; it’s staining your suit. Anyway, where were we? Ah yes. You’re probably still wondering what this proposition is that I keep blathering on about. Well, I can’t get to the point straight-away; I believe you require some background information to see things my way first.

Yes, yes. Like I told you out in the street, your speech had been forever etched into my mind. You promised amazing things. You told all of us that we could get out of our ruts; it was within our power. We just had to follow your example. And we did. Many of us followed you, believing you could provide the change we needed to eliminate this class-gap that has formed. You wanted to bring the power from the few to the many. Well, that’s at least what you said then.

You don’t like where this is going, do you? What makes me say that? Well, I can see the fear starting to form in your eyes. Ha ha. What is this world coming to, when a man in a position such as yours could be so afraid of a man such as me? Are you sure you don’t remember me? Well, I am just a common man, blue collar. But the fact that you don’t remember me, despite my being common, is a sad comment on your nature.

Continuing with my story, we followed you. It really looked like what you told us was coming true. The power came so close to our grasp; we felt the dawn of a new age approaching. But you took it from us. The new age emerged, and it was truly different. But you filled us with fear.

Stand up. Stand up! Come here. No! Come back here! I said, come back here. There, that’s better. I told you to cooperate. Okay, let me show you something. There. Painful, isn’t it? Yes, I just stabbed you with this knife. And hard to breathe, isn’t it? You hear that crackling when you try and breathe? That’s the blood pooling in your lungs. Calm down. The more you panic, the faster you’ll bleed. Sit back down, it will help.

Yes, you filled us all with fear, but you left us with a fire in our hearts. And so we tried to do something then, but you wouldn’t have that, no, no. You had your special guard disrupt us at every turn. It came to the point that we were never sure who we could trust, but we still tried. I tried, but I was caught. I was in your manor when I was caught. You came out to see your guards beating me. They stopped and I got a good look at you; I saw your contempt for me. You walked up to me, our faces as close as they are currently, and you told me that you would never stand for such insubordination from your people, and you wanted me to remember that. I did. You then proceeded to stab me in the back, and you told your men to throw me out. They did. I laid in the snow, thinking I would surely die on that cold night. But I didn’t. No, I managed to find shelter and a friendly face to help me recover, and here I am to this day.

And now my proposition. I want you to understand that while you will not stand for such insubordination from your people, your people will not stand for your greed and crimes against humanity. I decided that your method had such a lasting impression in my mind, I should try it out. Of course, I’m doing you one better by providing the shelter. But I highly doubt you will easily find a friendly face.

With that, I bid you adieu. If you survive, don’t come looking for me. I’ll be gone.