“Yeah, well…this
is going to be fun,” said Ned as he shivered in the cold wind.
“You really don’t
have to, you know,” said Claire as she downshifted so Ned could
keep up.
“No, I think
(puff)…Earth Day (gasp)…is great,” said Ned. “Tell me
again…why are we celebrating…Earth Day in March?”
“Because Mayor
Dick is a total idiot. He didn’t realize Earth Day is in April and
by the time he figured it out he was already booked for that day. So
he declared Earth Day in our city to be on March 22nd
because it fit his schedule.”
They pedaled along
to the sounds of Ned huffing and puffing. As City Hall appeared,
booths and food vendors filled the streets and the great lawn in
front was almost empty. On a stage was a band playing some country
rock song about how incompetent the government is.
“Let’s head
over that way,” said Claire as she nodded toward some booths. “I
want to see if Charlotte is volunteering.”
Claire and Ned
locked their bikes to a rack and headed over to find Charlotte. They
passed the Trees of Hope and Food Fit booths. Claire
was looking ahead for the next booth when Ned noticed the attractive
women at the Food Fit booth. He took a leaflet they were
handing out about healthy food, along with recipes. Ned thanked them
and said he may come back later because he liked healthy food.
“Awesome!” the young women replied.
They passed the Robo-Green
Revolution, Not In My Back 40, Garden Yourself, and the Solar
Collector Collection booths before Claire finally saw Charlotte.
She was working at the local progressive AM radio station booth,
WGRN.
“Hey, Charlotte!” said Claire.
“Hi Claire. Hi Ned,” said
Charlotte.
“How's it going?” asked Claire
while Ned just stared at Charlotte with a silly grin on his face.
“It's been slow – no crowd at all.
It's not surprising since the whole event was moved up a month. It's
freezing out here!” she said as she blew into her hands and rubbed
them together.
Upon hearing Charlotte's words,
Claire's eyes widened with anger and she began a diatribe. “Can
you believe that? Mayor Dick is such a...such an...idiot.
Forgetting Earth Day is in April and moving the city's celebration to
March. Oh, it steams me! I just can't imagine what would possess
him to be so arrogant – so backward about these things.”
“I think he didn't want people to
show up for the real Earth Day, so he moved it.” said Charlotte.
“His record on the environment has been pretty bad. This is worse
than not acknowledging Earth Day at all. Look, there's hardly
anybody here.”
Wanting to impress Charlotte, Ned
said, “Yeah, maybe he really didn't want them to show up.
And...and...” He was looking for something to say that would sound
intelligent. “Maybe he wanted to toot his horn about his new small
business initiative that is supposed to help reduce carbon
emissions.”
“That initiative doesn't do anything
to reduce emissions,” said Claire. “He just says it does. It
will actually increase emissions because it allows larger businesses
to create more under a cap and trade agreement.”
“Yeah, and he could toot his horn
next month if he wanted anyway,” added Charlotte. “When its warm
out.”
Ned shrugged his shoulders and changed
the topic, “Are you and Topping going to garden with Bartholomew?”
“Yeah, I'm so excited. This is
going to be fun. I've never gardened before, have you?”
“No, not really,” said Ned. “My
parents had a small garden but I never helped them with it.”
Neither of them asked Claire that question, because they knew her
parents really liked gardening-- and they even raised chickens. As
Ned began to wonder why it was that he never helped his parents
garden, he noticed several crows flying toward a tree behind the
stage. Then he noticed that the tree, which looked like it had
leaves, was actually full of birds.
The band stopped playing and a woman's
voice rang out, “Ladies and gentleman, welcome! Welcome all of you
to the Great Earth Day Celebration!” A few cheers rose from the
pitifully small crowd as people turned to face the Deputy Mayor.
“It is a great honor to have you all
here. It's a little chilly, but seeing all of you warms my heart,”
said the woman. Applause rose from the crowd, mostly to keep their
hands warm; a couple people whistled. “Let me delay no longer. I
have the great honor of introducing to you the person most
responsible for this Earth Day celebration. A person without whose
leadership and guidance this city wouldn't be the spectacular place
it is. Ladies and gentlemen, your mayor and your friend, Mayor
Dick!”
There was no applause or cheers from
the smattering of cold people standing around. The word “moron”
was heard inside some muffles coming from somewhere back by the
display booths.
“Thank you, thank you,” boomed the
voice of Mayor Dick. The mic was too loud. “What a great honor to
be with you all here on this beautiful day – Earth Day.”
“But it’s not Earth Day!” yelled
a young woman's voice.
Mayor Dick didn't notice the comment
or the few robins and mourning doves that began to circle overhead.
He continued, “I am as proud as anyone of the great strides our
fair city has made under my mayorship toward a greener and more
vibrant city. I, and the city council and city staff...” a “boo”
was heard from the crowd... “have worked tirelessly to bring this
city into the greening of the 21st Century. It is with
great pleasure that I read the following list of our accomplishments.
First, an additional four acres of green space in our residential
neighborhoods...”
“Due to foreclosures,” the young
woman's voice interrupted.
Ignoring the heckle, Mayor Dick
continued, “...for our children to play in. A new local food
vendor for our public schools...”
“Donkey Burgers are going to make
them all fat!”
“...that will provide healthy,
nutritious food for our children.”
“Donkey Burgers cause heart
disease!” said Claire as she moved toward the podium. The sun now
dimmed as numerous birds flew overhead. Robins, mourning doves,
crows, chickadees, warblers, cardinals and even a few chickens
created a massive dark cloud that became noisier with each
proclamation by Mayor Dick.
“The city fleet has reduced its gas
consumption by fifteen percent.”
“Due to job loss!”
Mayor Dick refused to acknowledge
Claire, but directed his comments to other people in the crowd. “We
have created a small business plan that will reduce small business
carbon emissions by thirty percent.”
“But it will allow large businesses
to increase their carbon emissions by forty percent,” said Claire
as she stepped up next to the stage.
Mayor Dick scowled her way and
continued with agitation in his voice, “Citizens of this fair
metropolis, fear not of the future, for I and the council will
continue always to protect our land, water and air while also
protecting our high-quality way of life.” He paused for a moment
as he witnessed a single white dove feather fall down from the sky
and land on Claire's dark green beret. The sound of chirps and calls
grew louder
“You're a liar!” yelled Claire
only a few feet from Mayor Dick.
“Now that is not fair!” yelled an
offended Mayor Dick directly at Claire. “nothing I have said is a
lie.” A cacophony of squawks, chirps, calls, crowings and
gobblings almost drowned out the interchange between Claire and Mayor
Dick.
“Well, it hasn't been the truth
either,” Claire yelled back.
“You, my dear, are the liar here.
And I will not let you deceive the fine people of this city with your
misguided understanding of what is important and what I have
accomplished. It is I who has been elected to be the protector of
this fair city from the misinformation and cynical enviro-propoganda
you are espousing,” replied Mayor Dick.
Claire did not give quarter. “Donkey
Burger is not going to provide healthy and nutritional meals to our
schools. The only reason they make burgers out of donkey meat is
because donkey meat isn't considered a food item by the FDA. They do
it so they don't have to follow regulations – so they can cut
corners and MAKE MORE MONEY!”
“I will not stand here and listen to
you slander my good friend Gerald. He has run his Donkey Burger
business above board and with great success for many years.” With
this, the birds descended-- as a single organism-- to within five
feet of Mayor Dick's head. Hundreds of birds were flying en masse in
figure eights and diving to and fro just above his head, but still he
paid no attention. He only could see Claire, her red face and angry
eyes.
“Gerald? Gerald? Above board? Do
you have any idea what he buys his daughter for Christmas presents?”
said Claire in disgust.
“Whatever he buys her has nothing to
do with what kind of man Gerald is. “You obviously are not here
because you care about Earth Day...or the earth. Someone please
remove this girl from these festivities,” said Mayor Dick as he
signaled to a security guard.
With that, Claire ran, and the birds
flew off to distant rooftops, trees and places unseen. Claire wanted
to blend in with the crowd and disappear too, but there was no crowd.
She headed toward the booth where Charlotte and Ned were standing.
“Help, they’re coming to remove
me!” said Claire.
“Quick, you can hide under here,”
said Charlotte.
“If they want us to leave, why don't
we just leave?” asked Ned.
Claire's voice came from under the
table inside the WGRN booth, “Ned, go get our bikes and then we can
get away. Bring mine here. I need to hide!”
Ned's face folded up in a look of “Do
I have to?” But he turned and went to fetch Claire's bike. He was
back in a few minutes.
“Ned. Put it by the back of the
booth,” said Claire's voice. Ned did as he was told. “I'll meet
you back at Madeline Park by the water fountain. Then let's go get
some lunch.” Claire shot out from under the table, got on her bike
and was gone.
As she saw Claire disappear over a
hill in the distance, Charlotte said, “That Claire. She is amazing
how she isn't afraid to stand up to them. She is so inspiring.”
Ned wasn't feeling inspired. He
thought about going back to the Food Fit booth and talking to
the attractive women. But he wasn't feeling right about that. He
thought about talking with Charlotte a while and getting to know her
better. But he wasn't feeling like doing that today either. He
mounted his bike and slowly pedaled away from the Earth Day
celebration. Ned suddenly realized what he was feeling – he
was feeling alone.
__________________________________
Written by Mark Granlund
Illustrations by Matt Wells
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