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The Only Way

Ronald Brunsky

    Raindrops were starting to collect on the windshield, as Larry turned on to state route 33. He wanted to get home and unwind after another stressful day at the office.
    When a favorite tune of his came up, he smiled and turned up the volume:“We never thought it would go this far”. Singing along, He wished Carson Lake hadn’t left us so soon. Larry owned every CD of his, and just couldn’t believe it had been five years already, since that fatal plane crash.
    The rain came down harder. He switched the wipers to high. This weather front was due later—not now—not during rush hour. Boy! Meteorologists, what a life—have they got it made. They get paid even when they miss their forecasts. All the technology they have at their disposal: Doppler radar, high powered computers even satellites you’d think they could change the weather not merely predict it. Why weren’t they held accountable? He could be looking for a new job, if he made a couple mistakes.
    Recently the topics of discussions in the lunch room have left him depressed—you know—health care, Iraq, gas prices etc. Why were there so many problems?
    Technology was one big reason. Although giving each new generation a better standard of living, it also created many problems. Atomic energy, the automobile, air travel, medical advances, computers etc., all have a negative component. From a high tech tool for predators and thieves, to polluting our environment, exhausting our natural resources, overcrowding the planet, to the potential destruction of all life at the touch of a button, could there be any doubt that technology has contributed to the world’s problems?
    So, was technology the biggest problem? Hardly. By far the greatest contributor to the world’s problems was man’s treatment of man. In the name of religion, race or personal beliefs, men have killed, enslaved or dominated other men. Despite some 5,000 years of civilization we have failed to learn how to live together.
    Was there any hope? Were we headed for global catastrophe? Has the world already started to spiral out of control? Could we turn this hopeless situation around? Not likely—our leaders simply don’t have the answers. Solutions must be found and found fast if we’re to save this troubled dying planet.
    What would it take to put the world on the correct course of action? Larry suggested giving the right person unlimited authority. Implying we needed a dictator really put people off. He then countered that the person wouldn’t be like Stalin or Hitler, but someone like Lincoln or Kennedy. Someone who was concerned about the welfare of all the people, not just the special interest groups, with total power could change things for the better and quickly. Despite the saying about absolute power, Larry was positive the right person unencumbered by the concessions, and games of law making, would be able to make the most effective decisions for every circumstance.
    Democracy, he argued was overrated, in that things happened too slowly, and relied on unselfish, principled leaders getting elected which certainly wasn’t always the case.
    The storm was really intensifying as he exited on to Station Street. Lightning could be seen in the distance and black clouds resembling a monstrous wave were rapidly rolling in. It was a very strong electrical storm and Larry hoped to get home ahead of it, because he had left several appliances on in addition to the computer and TV.
    The rain became a downpour the wipers were barely keeping up. It was becoming very dark—almost black except for the frequent lightning strikes. Larry turned on his headlights and was debating about pulling over, when his street finally came into view.
    Turning into his driveway, a deafening explosion occurred that rattled his car accompanied by an intense blinding flash of light. A bolt of lightning had struck the old maple tree, with such fury that it left nothing but a big smoking hole in the ground. He was stunned. In a matter of a split second, this huge tree was completely history.
    He pulled into the garage and ran inside to check the house. The electricity was off, and he feared the damages would be extensive.
    After the storm passed over, Larry went next door to talk to his neighbor. Bob was a good friend and also a licensed electrician who worked for the city.
    “Boy that lightning strike did a number on me. I think I may have some major problems. Do you think you could check it out?”
    “Sure thing—I wasn’t home when it happened, but my wife was. She said she never saw a lightning strike that powerful before. I can’t imagine that big tree gone—just like that.”
    “Yea, it was awesome.”
    “Larry I think you’re the only one without power on the street and that’s not a good sign, but we’ll take a look—be about an hour.”
    “Really appreciate it Bob.”

#####

    Starting at the circuit breakers Bob quickly moved through the house. Larry knew from the way that he was shaking his head that the situation was not good. The damage was substantial. Bob said that a tremendous surge of current must have traveled through the ground pipe and overloaded every circuit in the house. All the appliances, the TV, most of the wiring and the circuit breakers were all fried and would have to be replaced; the walls were scorched as the house almost started on fire. In his twenty years of experience he had never seen that much damage from a lightning strike that hadn’t actually hit the house.
     Luckily, the house insurance would cover everything but the deductable. Bob said he would do the job, but Larry needed to be out of the house for about two weeks.
    Larry told his parents what happened, and they insisted he stay with them. He had been out on his own for ten years and to tell you the truth the thought of a home cooked meal every night sounded pretty good.

####

    Finally, everything was ready. The electrical work was completed and all the new appliances had arrived. He appreciated his parents putting him up, but after two weeks he was more than ready to get back home. So on Friday morning he moved back in.
     The electricians had done a good job, but left a real mess to clean up. After all the dry wall work that was done, there was dust everywhere. The carpet had to be vacuumed, the walls washed down, the windows cleaned, where did it end. My parents offered to help, but he thought he had put them out enough. He assured them that he could handle it, but after a few hours he was overwhelmed. He needed help. So Larry called his girlfriend, Molly. Luckily, she was available and came right over.
    They must have worked non-stop till almost nine P.M. to get the house back in a livable condition. They were both exhausted and starved.
    After some pizza and a glass of wine, Molly left and Larry got ready for bed. He couldn’t remember being so tired. He could barely keep his eyes open as he showered. It was then that he realized he never replaced the computer—better call my insurance man first thing in the morning and add that to the list.
    Since garbage pickup was tomorrow, he might as well set it out by the curb tonight. As he entered the computer room and started to gather the components, he thought. What the Hell! Maybe the wiring blew before the surge got to the computer. He didn’t know? He wasn’t an electrical expert. He gave it a try. Sitting down in front of the computer, he pushed the start button. Low and behold it lit up and then the screen came on, and when he double clicked on the internet it too immediately popped up, faster than it ever had before. It apparently wasn’t damaged, but how could that be? He didn’t understand—everything else was fried.
    Larry decided to check the weather forecast for Saturday before he went to bed. Bringing up the weather site for Ohio, the forecast was for sunny and temperatures in the low 70’s. Looking at the national radar he noticed a strong storm front approaching Florida from the Gulf. This front was capable of dropping up to three inches of rain on an already saturated area. He thought boy could they use that rain on the west coast where they are having a drought and forest fires.
     As he went to close out the site, he accidently clicked the mouse with the curser pointed at the storm front. To his amazement the storm cell moved. He did a double take—did that really happen? He tried it again. He clicked and dragged the curser to the left and the storm front followed. Larry couldn’t figure out what was going on, maybe the computer wasn’t alright. He put the storm front over California, and left it there—at least he had good intentions. Puzzled, he closed out the site and went to bed.

#####

    Saturday morning Larry met Molly and his parents for breakfast. His parents couldn’t stop talking about the freakish weather events that occurred last night.
    “Larry, did you hear how the heavy rain in Florida changed directions and in a matter of hours was over California,” asked dad.
    “The weathermen were beside themselves, they just can’t figure it out,” mom added.
    “Yes, it’s true, said Molly,” and the forest fires are almost out. It’s like a miracle.”
    “No, I didn’t hear.” I said, thinking to myself—boy what a really strange coincidence.
    Larry was kind of oblivious to the rest of the conversation that morning. All he wanted to do was get back to that weather site. Had he caused what happened, or was it just a weird weather phenomenon?

######

    Molly and him spent Saturday afternoon at Bottleneck Point, a popular spot on the lake, visited gift shops and flea markets. It was after eight when he finally got home. Although, he always enjoyed Molly’s company he was very anxious to get back to the computer.
     Going into his office, Larry’s body was tense and excited as he brought up the weather site. Now he’d find out. Had that lightning bolt created some kind of super computer? Did a genie get into my monitor who could grant my every wish? Oh, get real this weather thing was just a very rare natural occurrence, that’s all.
    For days now a tropical depression had been forming just north of Venezuela, and it was now becoming a legitimate category four hurricane threatening the Puerto Rican coast. In a matter of hours it was scheduled to hit. This would certainly be a good test. So, he moved the curser on to the hurricane and left clicked the mouse. As he held his breath, he moved the mouse, and to his amazement—the storm followed. It was happening again, he was controlling the weather. Carefully, Larry moved the storm into a safe mid-Atlantic position well away from the Florida coast.
    Quickly, he turned on the TV and went to the weather channel. They were all a buzz—trying to make sense of another very unusual weather event. All across the news channels, it was all anyone was talking about. He was in shock. What should he do? Should he tell the authorities? Yea right. He’d get locked up as a nut. No, he decided to cool it on the weather changes, while trying to make sense of it. He certainly wasn’t doing any harm—was he?

####

     As the weeks went by the unusual weather events became less and less in the news. The weather channel finally chalked them up to sunspot activity or whatever to ease the public’s mind.
     He wondered, was this power in my computer limited to the weather or was there more he could do? Could he change things that were unfair? What would be a good test? What things really irritated him?
    One was the salaries of today’s professional athletes. He brought up an article about a superstar baseball player who signed a ten year multi-million dollar deal. It was the equivalent of a city’s budget—for just one player! This indeed was a very sore subject with him: overpaid professional jocks. Receiving that kind of money for playing a kid’s game, while police, firemen and teachers were being laid off. In recent years they had distanced themselves so far from their fans, and very few had put anything back into the game. Time and time again these prima donnas left their loyal fans in the dust to make more money in some other city, and when it got down to it, who were they without their fans—nothing—nothing at all.
    Larry wondered if this headline could be altered. It read Jose Managua signs 250 million dollar deal. He highlighted the headline and pressed the delete key and poof it was gone. He then replaced it with: “CONGRESS APPROVES PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TAX LAW”.
    After typing in the new headline, the attached article automatically adjusted, reading: Congress decides professional athletes’ salaries were way out of line and should be reduced dramatically. They cited the vast income differences between middle income America and professional sports players, the loss of the original intent of professional sports as an affordable pastime for the general public, and the out of control use of performance enhancing drugs to help attain these high salaries as the major reasons for passing the bill. The bill passed by an overwhelming margin and was expected to be approved by the President.
    The bill would tax any professional athlete at a rate of 95% for any and all income that exceeded 100 thousand per year. This money would then be contributed directly to the city’s budget where that athlete plays.
    Larry was on his way to the TV—had it made the news yet, when the phone rang. It was Pete a friend from work. They have had many discussions in the past about player’s salaries, and Pete knew how he felt about the subject.
    “Boy, Larry you must be thrilled.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Turn on the TV the news is on every channel. Congress passed a 95% tax law on professional athletes’ salaries.”
    “Wow that’s great news. Somehow I feel I contributed a little.”
    “Larry, maybe you did.”
    “You know Pete $100,000 plus was still a lot of money, considering all their expenses during the season are taken care of. If some of them quit—so what—you gotta know they weren’t in it for the game anyway.”
    “Yea, I agree, but Larry, who would have ever thought it would really happen.”

####

    When Larry said, the only way to solve the country’s problems was to have the right man with total power, he never believed in his wildest dreams that he might actually be that man. But for whatever reason he was, and now he must make the most of it.
    Although important, the weather and big business in professional sports weren’t the only problems that faced the world. So what should be next? What would really make a difference?
    He thought about changing history. What would have happened, if Hitler had been somehow removed before he came into power, Kennedy’s assassination had been prevented, or the major wars avoided by peaceful negotiations?
     Though very tempting, he decided against it—something told him that changing history was an area he shouldn’t tamper with, although he couldn’t resist altering one small headline from the past.
    He decided to concentrate on the current problems of the world. Looking at the front page of the Sunday paper he found two good ones. “GAS PRICES SOAR-RATIONING NEXT?” he changed to “SOLAR CARS NOW AMERICA’S TOP SELLER”, and “DEFENSE BUDGET AT ONE TRILLION” to “MILITARIES DISBANDING AS PEACE CONTINUES”.
    Once again the attached articles magically revised, to fit the headlines. And over the next few days one by one from global warming and religious conflicts to Healthcare and the lawyer driven world, he converted negative headlines to positive ones.
    Although, he felt the effect of these changes immediately, strangely, everyone else responded as if these headlines were the culmination of years of constructive policies driven by involved citizens who had taken back control of their country. From this inspiration at the grass roots level, several great leaders came to the forefront, and responded with revolutionary solutions to domestic and foreign problems.
    The relief and satisfaction from these changes were evident on the faces of everyone. People, even strangers met you with a smile, they all seemed so content. Like despair and hardship had been lifted from their shoulders, and replaced with hope and happiness. At work, no longer were complaints about the President, healthcare, crime or gas prices the common topic. There were no more racial slurs or sexist remarks. Everyone was upbeat and positive. It was so unreal how things could have changed so drastically so quickly.
    Instead of shootings, drug crime and mismanagement of public funds by city officials the local news highlighted incidents of people who helped others and the continual improvements in all aspects of society. Even on the national news, reporters had nothing but praise for the decisions and programs of our world leaders. Countries that had been long time adversaries were now working jointly together on constructive projects.
    He might never know why this glorious gift was placed in his hands, instead of a world leader. And although recognition was never his incentive; he’d always be greatful to have been a part of this miracle. The gratification he felt was almost indescribable. The world was finally without religious conflict, war, and prejudices, instead was filled with peace, equality and prosperity—just as GOD had intend ...
    “Ring...ring...” My head bobbed forward. “Ring...ring....”
    “Larry, pick up its Molly.”
    His eyes opened to see a blank monitor screen. He moved the mouse, and still a pitch black screen. Then the shocking reality hit him—the computer had obviously not worked since the lightning bolt had struck, and all this had been a dream. A dream that might have been, the only way to solve our problems. Indeed, it was a dream that might have been the only way to save the world.
    He gathered his senses and went to the phone. As her message continued he still tried to resist the overwhelming reality of the situation.
    “Molly, you still there?”
    “Larry, sorry to call you so late, I know it’s almost midnight. I wanted to ask you something earlier, but after we started cleaning I totally forgot.”
    Well, he thought, that statement certainly dashed his last hopes.
    “You know, I really feel stupid you must have been in bed.” Molly continued. “It can wait.”
    “No, it’s ok. I just dozed off in front of the computer. I’m wide awake now. But, boy what a dream I had—a real doozie.”
    “What was it about—was I in it?”
    “Yes a little—it’s kind of involved—you know how strongly I feel about certain subjects.”
    “You can tell me all about it tomorrow.”
    “OK I will, so anyway Molly what did you forget to ask?”
    “I just wanted you to keep Friday night open the 23rd were going to a live concert.”
    “OK, fine with me, anybody I like?”
    “Yes Larry, he’s your favorite—Carson Lake.”

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This appears in a pre-2010 issue of cc&d magazine. Saddle-stitched issues are no longer printed, but you can requesting it “re-released” through amazon sale as a 6" x 9" ISBN# book! Email us for re-release to order.

This appears in a pre-2010 issue
of cc&d magazine.
Saddle-stitched issues are no longer
printed, but you can requesting it
“re-released” through amazon sale
as a 6" x 9" ISBN# book!
Email us for re-release to order.