Elections

The post for this week is inspired by my friend, whose husband is running for a spot on the City Council of a small town.  With the election tomorrow, I asked her how she's doing.  She said the hard part is that they don't have the first clue how it's going to turn out.  There are no polls for a small town election, so while he could very well win, he may also walk away with only a few votes.  There's really no way to know ... and so they won't know until the votes are counted.

I would not trade all of my anxieties for this one of hers right now.

So, the prompt for this week is to write a bit about an election.  Make it a student body, homecoming queen, or even US President election, whatever you like.  Have fun!

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My response:

I walked into the courthouse with wings on my feet.  I felt like I'd off-loaded barrels of bricks from my shoulders.  Only the weight of my restored ego kept me down.

The swearing-in was scheduled for 10am, but I was there early.  Mostly for the photo op with the press.  It had taken fifteen minutes to get from my car to the front door - a distance I usually crossed in a matter of seconds.  Today everyone wanted to shake my hand and get my autograph.  After four years of serving my people, even more of them had grown to know and love me, and I knew I would keep fighting for them. 

It was us against the world, but as of the election yesterday, we'd won a major battle.

And it wasn't just that.  Four more years of a paycheck that would keep my children in the best schools.  Four more years of holding a position of respect, such that my ex couldn't mess with me like he had in the past.  Four more years. 

I was so ready.

"Annie?"  Suddenly my best friend, also a member of the legislature, but on the staggered term from my own, was at my elbow.  "Annie, you better get in here."

Her blue eyes were wide and wet as she pulled me into the main hall.  Everyone was there, which was expected, but I quickly picked out the problem.  The election clerk stood at the presentation table, a projector set up.

"... manipulated the vote in a number of the sectors.  We have identified the areas where the vote was tampered with, and these sectors will be removed from the total count of yesterday's election ..."

Someone tampered with the votes?  I only believed it for a split second.  Then the reality of the situation hit me.  They were getting rid of me.  Whether the people wanted me or not, the rest of the government was tired of putting up with me.  They'd had to come up with a way to get rid of me, and they'd done it.  Accuse me of tampering with votes.  Throw out the sectors where my supporters live. 

But they were wrong.  I wasn't done fighting, yet.