Choice and Tyranny – Daniel Bull’s Writing

The title “Choice and Tyranny” is a message that we all have choices in life. When Tyranny arises, we have a choice to resist or to acquiesce. An audio of the original text, read by me, Daniel Bull, is followed by a transcript of that text.

Chapter 1. A Nightmare of the Soul.

Willie was certain he was on the right track. He had to be. Along with the love of his life, he was sure that he would soon have a handle on reality. This was no small endeavor. Reality isn’t what it used to be. Not that reality was so wonderful in times past. There were always wars and rumors of wars. And every one of them started with a lie and ended with another. Yet always interspersed with the violence there was a little peace and tranquility now and then. Even during those times, the peace was marked by violence on a lesser scale. That peace was welcomed by most, but there always existed a portion of humanity that reveled in cruelty and violence. He was sustained by the love of his life, his spouse Adelle. She shared his views in the main, and where they differed was usually trivial. All his adult life he had felt that there was, overall, a steady progression toward a better world. There were setbacks, of course. Sometimes he became discouraged. Sometimes he and Adelle thought that the society, the culture, wherein they had usually felt they were prospering, had somehow reversed, and they were going downhill.

On one of those occasions, Willie and Adelle decided they would leave their comfortable suburban life, to find a place in the countryside that would afford them tranquility and peace and quiet. Their task became deciding where to go, and how to go about doing it.

Several nights after deciding to make this tentative change in their lives, Willie had a dream. More like a nightmare. His dream was similar to events laid out in the first tale of the Arabian Nights. His dream was therefore of a fantastical nature. Perhaps that was as it should be. Adelle was taken aback. She did not know what to think. OK. What transpired in that first tale related by Scheherazade? It was a tale about magic, faith, and intentions.

In Willie’s dream, he and Adelle were out hiking a country trail, when they encountered a very strange figure. This figure appeared enraged and was threatening Willie in a violent fashion. The figure was human, and yet not human at all. Presumably a figure emanating from a corner of Willie’s subconscious mind, malevolence was a clear facet of this dream figure. The grotesque, bizarre figure was threatening Willie, and Willie was frightened. “You have caused me great harm, and I will have my revenge,” the figure bellowed.

Willie found that he could speak, even though he was aware he was dreaming. “What harm, and what revenge?” cried Willie in his dream voice.

“You have killed my only son,” cried the beast. Willie could only think of him as a beast. “I must have your life in reparation.” Willie cried out in his sleep, alarming Adelle. She shook him awake, or somewhat awake. “Willie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying out in your sleep?”

Groggily, Willie mumbled that he had been having a terrible nightmare. “In fact, it was so frightening that I still feel terrified, even though I’m awake and I know it was only a dream.”

“You’re right, it was only a dream,” said Adelle.

“Only? It was so realistic I’m still trembling.”

“Try to go back to sleep,” advised Adelle.

“Yeah. I’ll do that. Wish me luck.”

Adelle suggested that Willie try to remember, so he could tell of his dream in the morning.

Willie nodded away again, and astonishingly, his dream returned, in slightly different form, it must be admitted. Adelle and Willie had not run down that country path. They did not encounter an ephemeral figure. The figure was a product of Willie’s dream. As Willie drifted off to sleep again, he met the frightening figure once more, and Adelle again was there with Willie.

Again, the beastly figure threatened Willie with a horrible fate. But why? Who was the beast’s son? How had Willie caused him harm? Never in any of Willie’s dreams and nightmares had he ever been touched. Yet now, in this nightmare, he feared being touched. Beyond mere touching, the beast had told him that he must die. The declaration was unequivocal. In the past, whenever Willie encountered any threatening entity in a dream, he had tried to run. And so he did in this case. And as always happened in a dream, his feet were made of mud and his legs would not move except at a glacial pace.

The beast was constantly gaining on him, but never quite caught him. At least, that was how it usually happened. Not this time. The beast grabbed him by his hair and brought him to a halt. Willie was confronted by a menacing creature, ugly beyond imagination. “What do you want from me?” Willie was trembling with fear and apprehension.

“I want your life!

“But why?”

“Because you killed my son!”

“How did I do that?” Willie was trying to figure out a way to escape from the grip of his assailant. “I have never hurt another soul in my life.”

“When you picked up that rock on the trail and threw it ahead of you. My son, though invisible, was in the trajectory of that stone, and you killed him.”

“I did not harm him intentionally,” said Willie, beseechingly. “Why punish me for a mistake?”

Willie once again cried out in his sleep, and once again Adelle awakened him. “It’s time to wake up,” said Adelle. “You were dreaming again.”

“Yes, and it was the same dream I had earlier.”

“Are you awake?” asked Adelle. “Yes.” “Then tell me what had you in such a fright.”

“As you know, I frequently dream, and too often it’s a nightmare, something terrifying. This was no exception.” Willie described his nightmare in some detail. The ambience was eerily ghostly, although Willie did not encounter any ghosts in his dream, at least not that he recognized as such. He was on the woodland trail that he and Adelle had walked so often. Yet it was somehow different. It had become menacing in his dream. He took that to be an expression of his subconscious mind. Synapses fired even in slumber. For the life of him, he could not find those thoughts in his waking hours.

Adelle had an opinion about the entire experience. “You know as well as I do that this ‘nightmare’ is somehow intertwined with your waking experiences. I trust that we will be able to drill down to the roots.”

“That is much to be desired,” exclaimed Willie. “I can’t envision continuing to pass my nights in terror. I know that objectively on some level dreams are just dreams, but I also know that dreams are considered significant by almost all psychologists. That’s why we need to look at this closely.”

“It’s well known that our dreams are reflections of our psyches. Or at least I think that’s true. This dream of murder you’ve been having may not reflect an actual murder. It may reflect a suppressed desire. Can you think of anyone you’d like to off?”

“What are you talking about, Adelle? You know very well that I’m not a violent man. In fact, I’ve never harmed another human being, not even when I was young.”

“Many people have recurring nightmares. For some, it’s just about the only dream they have. For some others, it occurs regularly, but they have other dreams as well.” Adelle was somewhat knowledgeable about ancient mystical religion. It occurred to her that there was an analogy in the Hindu Upanishads. “There is a state of dreaming, in which we experience our past experiences and our present desires. Another state is dreamless sleep, in which we leave such things behind. You had this dream for the first time last night, and only time will tell whether it’s obsessive or just repeated from time to time. Or maybe it will never happen again. We’ll find out. But still, I think you should think hard about anyone you secretly consider an enemy.”

Willie pondered, but he could not come up with a name. “Let’s shower, get dressed, and go out to breakfast. I either have to get this thing out of my mind or find an answer to the mystery.”

“Sounds good,” said Adelle.

Chapter 2. Deeper and Deeper.

It turned out to be difficult for Willie to gain equanimity, even after a shower, a shave, and dressing. He had already decided he would not go to work that day. Adelle had decided the same. Willie had not killed anybody, a son or anyone else. That did not prove that the beast conjured by his mind was entirely wrong. To the contrary, it signaled a conflict he was not dealing with, probably something of which he was not even aware.

“How do you feel right now?” asked Adelle. Despite her passing reference to the Upanishads, she had no skills in dissecting dreams, but she was intuitive to a fault. She could sense that Willie was genuinely disturbed by his nightly experiences, that he wanted very much to find a connection between his nightmare and his daily life. The irony, as was so often true of dreams and daily life, was that perhaps it was nothing more than a dream, with no special significance at all. Just a dream.

That never occurred to Willie. He felt with all his being that something life-changing was in the offing. But “I feel OK,” was his response to Adelle.

Adelle knew better. She had been with Willie far too long. She had a sort of perspicacious way of knowing what Willie was thinking. She knew that Willie was not OK. Rather he was fearful that he had committed acts that his subconscious mind interpreted as lethal. “No, you’re not OK. Something is bothering you, and we should get to the bottom of it.”

“How do we do that?” Willie wondered. “And just how can you know what is happening in my head?”

“What is happening in your head reflects one kind of reality. Something is causing you distress, and it is reflected in your dream reality. What’s going on?”

“Well, I do realize that I go through my daily routine anticipating some sort of catastrophe.”

“A personal catastrophe, or something wider?”

“No, I feel it personally,” Willie blurted out. “I feel a sense of foreboding, anticipation of a radical change in my life, and it is manifested in my dreams as murder.”

“OK. Murder it is,” quipped Adelle. Adelle could not imagine Willie committing murder, no matter how hard she might try.

“Come on, this is serious,” cried Willie. “I haven’t told you this, but I’ve been having this particular dream, with some variations, for a couple of weeks, now.”

“Yikes!” Willie had Adelle’s close attention now. “Yes, it is serious, indeed,” Adelle said. “But what can we do with it?”

“I wish I knew. Frankly, I’m at my wit’s end. Having this scary kind of dream over and over is not easy to deal with.”

“Perhaps you should start by eating your breakfast.” They were in their favorite breakfast eatery, but Willie did not think he was hungry. Adelle was emphatic that Willie should eat. Personally, she was indifferent to the idea of breakfast. She often skipped it entirely. But she had realized long ago that Willie was useless without something in his tummy.

“I’m totally reluctant to think that my dreams can foretell the future,” declared Willie. “In fact, I don’t begin to think it’s even possible. This makes me believe that I must look to the past for clues to this unconscious calamity, if that’s what it is.”

“Let’s look at the obvious first,” Adelle reasoned. “Do you have any enemies, enemies that you might want dead?”

“Not on your life!” Willie sounded as though he meant it, but Adelle was not so sure.

“No doubt you’ve forgotten those you once characterized as betraying you. Or am I mistaken?”

“Not at all,” returned Willie. “I’m inclined to think of these dreams as metaphorical.”

“Well of course they are! Dreams are not real, at least not in the traditional sense of reality, but they can be symbolic of something that may be on our mind. So, what’s on your mind that you don’t want to deal with when awake?”

“Once upon a time, I did wish someone dead, yet I didn’t wish it very strongly. I knew it was just a passing anger I didn’t want to act upon. And I didn’t.” Willie was thinking about a time when he had been offered a promise by someone who was supposedly a close friend, but that promise had not been kept. In fact, the opposite had transpired.

Adelle remembered this ‘promise’. She didn’t for a moment think it worth homicide. She thought the dreams, indeed the nightmares, were brought about by a much more recent event. She had finished her morning coffee, which constituted breakfast for her, and Willie had finished his meal as well. Adelle suggested they go for a walk. Willie agreed.

Once outside, Willie began musing about his recent nocturnal events. “We agreed that dreams could not predict the future, but after thinking about it, I’m not so sure.”

Adelle was taken aback. “How so?” she asked.

“I think sometimes our dreams can reflect what is happening in the society at large. I think that’s the case here. Let’s face it, there are a million or more ways to interpret this idea of a monster claiming his child or children have been killed.” Willie had begun to look at the stuff in his head as closer to home than he had admitted. Perhaps the dream was not quite as monumental as he had first thought.

“So, where does that take us?” wondered Adelle.

“Perhaps the son of the monster is us,” said Willie. “Now that I think about it, it doesn’t even have to be about the society at large. It might be much more limited in scope. If the son of the monster must die, and at our hands, then maybe we should consider that we should change our behavior. Maybe that’s what is meant by death in that context.”

The pair sat down on a bench in a city park. A park that was in the city but did not feel that way. Before them was a large pond. Ducks were paddling around, and some children were sailing toy sailboats. Across the way was what appeared to be an island, which was covered by deciduous trees. All in all, it was a tranquil setting, relaxing to the soul and to the mind. If they had continued another fifty yards, they would have come upon a structure built to accommodate visitors. Food was available, and some bought packets of crackers to give to the ducks. This made the ducks unafraid of humans, and they were noisily accepting animal crackers as treats.

“Ah,” said Adelle. “Why can’t life be as tranquil as this everywhere and always.”

Willie was cynical about idealization. “You know as well as I do that can’t be. But I confess it’s a nice thought.” He had in mind that tranquility was an ephemeral state of mind. Yet it was not a state to which he was hostile. But for the life of him he had no idea how that could happen. He confessed to himself that he did not know how to achieve that desirable condition without some sense of peacefulness in the folks around him.

The folks around him had become increasingly restless in recent years. Willie was correspondingly depressed. Depression had become an integral part of his general mood of late. He knew that he had to find a way to overcome that. He had, to his way of thinking, two ways to accomplish this. He, with Adelle’s agreement and complicity of course, could withdraw from society in general, and they could lead lives of isolation and serenity. Another way to overcome his dejection, which was becoming habitual, was to become an activist, an advocate in some group working to change the downward slope toward despotic autocracy that had been increasing in the past few years.

Willie was aware of the contradictions inherent in these seemingly apposite paths. One was an oath of withdrawal, the other was a path of involvement. Either was an act of avoidance, a refusal to come to terms with his nightmare. He felt intuitively that finding Adelle in that dream was significant, indicating an issue that he might never resolve if he avoided attempting to resolve the issues perhaps lurking in that dream or series of dreams. That he was capable of entertaining such an avoidance caused a conflict that only added to his increasing depression.

Willie lately had become more and more attracted to the idea of working through his inner concerns through artistic expression of some sort. He had, in recent years, tried to write poems that somehow might address his troubles. In short order, his poetic inspirations escaped him, and it became obvious that he had to find another medium, if there were one, to satisfy his aspirations to artistic articulation. He realized that he had a mental roadblock. Unfortunately, that only magnified his depression. He found himself withdrawing from Adelle, something she did not deserve. Adelle had displayed nearly infinite patience. Willie’s bouts of depression had periodically threatened the relationship between him and Adelle. Fortunately for both, their love had stood as a buttress protecting them from travails in their feelings for each other. It could not be denied that Adelle had a few idiosyncrasies that were sometimes cause for Willie to be concerned. Between them, they had always found a solution to any emotional difficulties encountered.

When Willie descended into depression, Adelle always found herself supporting him, finding a way to help him out of the gloom he sometimes felt. Adelle recognized the funk that enveloped Willie when his attempts at poetry clearly failed. It was Adelle who encouraged Willie to continue seeking an outlet for his inner conflicts. It was Adelle who led him to writing as a way to deal with his inner turmoil.

Willie did indeed begin writing to express himself, instead of employing nightmares. Or so he thought. Initially he was successful in diverting his mind away from whatever symbolic release he achieved through his nightmares. After a short time, the frightful dreams returned. Willie contemplated the various interpretations that seemed possible to credit. He was taken by his own idea that the ‘monster’s son’ was something within himself. He brought to his conscious mind various possibilities, all the while thinking that this was a task he could not decipher on his own.

He had once been told that in dreams we meet with persons we have known but forgotten. He could not accept this because he had often visited with people he could remember from some other era. Where they were now was not to be known. Some were in another city. Some had decided to live a life he could not fathom. Some had gone on through that doorway to whatever came next. He did not believe that anything came next. He believed that once you were dead you were simply gone. He knew that others believed otherwise. He was certain in his own mind that all these phenomena were ephemeral and mostly imaginary. Now he was trying to deal with a dream of a monster who wanted to kill him because he had killed the monster’s son. He had no coping mechanism for something like this. Short of coping he thought of the dead son as a metaphor. But why would he carry a metaphor around, a metaphor waiting to spring up and disturb his life?

Adelle disagreed. She thought that with the proper mind frame, it was possible for an individual, any individual, to ferret out the demons bringing such a disquieting state. She encouraged him to explore as much as he could. Willie concluded that something in the state of the society shared the guilt. This brought him to the point of asking Adelle to consider once again the unrealized plan of repairing to a rural, maybe even a sylvan existence. The advantages of such a move were entirely personal for the pair, but they had to agree on the basic solution wholeheartedly.

Adelle had a confused, indecisive opinion. She yearned for a more tranquil life, the one life she was guaranteed. On the other hand, she was determined to do something that would contribute to maintaining a sane, non-belligerent world, where all creatures could function as Creator, and she had no clear idea of such a thing, had Creator possibly intended it.

“There exists a creative force, something that brought the universe into existence, but I will not assign that force to an anthropomorphism. Perhaps one day our comprehension of physics will help us to understand that force. Today, it’s all guessing. Earth, if it physically exists at all, is a tiny speck in what seems to Earthbound observers to be a galaxy of several hundred million stars, a similar number of planets, perhaps more, and dark matter, unknown in constitution, of at least as much mass. The nearby Andromeda galaxy, M31, is probably twice as large. There are untold billions of galaxies in the known universe. Amid all this, some presume to claim that their God, universally male, capable of strolling through a garden with a human, yet omniscient and omnipotent, ruler over all those billions of stars and planets; this group has decided that their group is favored by this God, so they have the right to take away whatever they wish from everybody and everything else. It helps if the group is composed of white nationalists.”

So, this is what Willie had to work from. His natural objective was to determine how Adelle would be on board with him. Willie personally preferred to live in a wooded area, near a freshwater lake, with the nearest neighbor at least a mile away. He thought he might have to compromise on at least a part of that. Adelle was open to a rural setting, even a wooded place, but she wanted to have neighbors just a little closer.

They spent the next few weeks exploring the area. They wanted to stay in the same general area. Eventually they found a small house on a low hilltop, very near to the Atlantic Ocean. They decided this house was perfect for their desires and needs, so they agreed to purchase it.

There was a driveway, unpaved, that ran from the likewise unpaved road to the house. The road itself was narrow and winding running between two improved roads. Beyond one end of the road a restaurant was perched on the edge of a small harbor. It was excellent, affording great food, a view of the harbor from an outside deck, and a parade of sailboats passing by. At the other end of the road was a road that ran eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, and westward past a collection of more restaurants, not quite as good as the harborside example, to a highway, two lanes running north and south.

The house was on a piece of land comprising several acres at the end of a cul-de-sac. Across from the cul-de-sac was a large area of reserved land, heavily wooded. Behind the house was a large piece of ledge bordering raspberry and blueberry shrubs. After the shrubs there was a vertical drop-off of about forty feet. A short distance from the bottom of the drop-off were a few more houses, not visible from the ledge. The house was small, a bungalow with a finished basement. There were wood burning fireplaces on the main floor and in the basement. In front was an ample lawn with several trees. On more than one occasion this lawn was visited by as many as seven white-tail deer. On the right side of the house was a sliding door leading onto a large screened-in porch. Outside the porch was a deck leading down to the ledge.

Large windows looking out to the ledge provided a perfect observation point for birdfeeders. Two of these were put out and loaded with seed daily. On the deck was a hummingbird feeder which was visited regularly during the season. In all, over thirty species of songbirds were identified at the feeders. After a time, chickadees and titmice would occasionally eat from Willie’s hand if he was patient.

In this idyllic context Willie was free to consider the world and its woes. But with Adelle he also had numerous evenings dining on the screened-in porch, sharing food that they loved and wine that they loved just as much. Here they could philosophize about the state of the world without interference from that world. Ofttimes while sitting in the living room hummingbirds would come to the feeder affixed to the window. After a time, these birds sometimes would decide to hover in front of the window and observe the strange creatures inside.

With exceptions, coyotes are diurnal, and could occasionally be seen on Willie’s and Adelle’s front lawn simply lounging in the sun. Or they might be seen carrying pups or prey. Foxes were also around and might be observed. Other animals were in abundance, large and small. All in all, Willie and Adelle found their choice to be ideal, and they spent many happy days at that house.

There was one spectacular phenomenon present when they first moved to the area. The end of the cul-de-sac intersected with the road forming a circular space above the road. Each evening hundreds of bats circulated in that space, a most spectacular sight. Then, after a year or two, the bats disappeared. Presumably some natural phenomenon, or maybe a human interference, occurred causing this disappearance.

There was virtually no traffic on the road at the end of the cul-de-sac, so Willie and Adelle felt free to walk that road at any time night or day. A couple of hundred yards along that road, a side road led across an earthen bridge to an island that included a few houses. One night they were walking that side road when they heard a gentle hooting sound. They trained their flashlights up into the trees and saw two small owls sitting side-by-side on a branch. The sight was almost magical. During daylight hours they encountered large wading birds, another amazing sight. The area was full of rewards such as these and made them feel peaceful and contented.

There were a few houses along the road where the bats had gathered. And on occasion they met someone walking along that road. One gentleman of about sixty once met them and the three of them started a conversation. This man had two principal subjects that were of interest to him. First, he was a dedicated fan of the jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall. Then he said he had a cancer and didn’t expect to live much longer. Adelle and Willie contemplated the meaning, if any, of such a fate. Even here, trying to isolate themselves from the ills and misfortunes of the world, the world could not be avoided. As such incidents accumulated the pair talked for many an hour about the meaning of life and how the ‘outside’ world could be dealt with. There were no clear answers. The only thing clear to them was that, au fond, the rest of the world could not be avoided.

The world and its woes were never far away. When they philosophized about the world, even in their isolated refuge, the world was never really very far away. They knew that beyond their chosen paradise malign, destructive events were occurring. No matter how hard they tried, sooner or later they always encountered news of some unpleasantness in the world at large.

“In the great scheme of things, can we ignore the baleful news that so often comes our way?” asked Willie. Willie, despite his seemingly tranquil existence, was sorely disturbed by what had developed politically and socially in the last few years. Adelle was of a similar state of mind. Both, were they to return to the ‘developed’ world, would be accurately depicted by most as ‘progressives.’ In their own way of seeing it, they were a little to the left of progressive. No matter. Those who had come to dominate the United States, or seemed to, would surely dub them ‘commies,’ or ‘socialists.’ These ‘dominating’ radical rightwing characters did not actually control or dominate much of anything. Well, the men typically dominated their wives and children. Beyond that, oligarchs and other very wealthy entities did the dominating. In this dominating they were directed by a paranoid, insecure, yet nihilistic individual who had convinced the political powers to install him as “President for Life,” a title he took seriously. He valued only fealty to himself. If he doubted anyone, he would fire them or if not in government he would use fear to force his ‘allies’ to fire that person.

From their distant vantage point, with only a radio to guide them, no computers, no smartphones, no television, Adelle and Willie learned of developments back in ‘civilization.’ As things seemed to get worse and worse, they contemplated how they could rejoin the struggle against the rightward drift of society. At the same time, they fervently wanted to continue their life in the woods near the ocean with the birds and other wildlife as companions. One evening, sitting on the deck looking at a waning moon and a riot of stars, they could not help but embrace each other. Willie began to weep, soon joined by Adelle.

“It isn’t fair,” exclaimed Willie. “As far as we know, we only get one chance to be on this Earth, and it just seems that conflict is never-ending.”

“Everyone else is in the same fix,” returned Adelle.

“But many who may be in the same fix seem to approve, to enjoy living that way,” said Willie.

“There does not seem to be a way to account for the wide array of living habits existing,” Adelle observed.

Willie could not bring himself to accept this without a disagreement. “I think it is OK to want to minimize the hatred and consequent violence that results.”

To Willie’s surprise, Adelle agreed. “I agree, but I don’t see how to accomplish such a goal.”

Willie ruminated: “Here we are, living in isolation, frankly with very few friends. In the short time we’ve been here we’ve come to love things this way. I can’t find any legitimate objection to what we have chosen. Yet somehow it seems selfish. As I think about it, one key is that we don’t have friends or children. We have agreed to hold off on making a family, but we should have friends, and those friends, chosen well, can help us to find a path to effecting change, to restoring some of the rights that have been taken away by autocratic edict.”

“Can we do such a thing and maintain our style of living?” Adelle had some thoughts about this, but she wanted to inquire about Willie’s ideas before giving her own views.

Willie was in a contemplative mood. He spoke to Adelle about an event from his youth. Willie had never owned a firearm, nor had he ever expressed a wish to own one. Yet Willie had succumbed to the beckoning of violence. “When I was a teenager, I had a friend whose parents owned a property in the North Woods of New England. This friend had a small collection of rifles. He and his father liked to hunt. One day my friend and I were wandering the woods aimlessly. My friend carried a .30-06 hunting rifle. At one point he handed the rifle to me. I expressed a general dislike of firearms. But I took the rifle. I saw a chipmunk a few feet in front of me among the leaves. Some primal urge took hold of me. I shot the chipmunk. To this day I cannot explain what I did. It was entirely gratuitous, but not without meaning. I have yet to find that meaning beyond seeing a primal urge of humans, particularly men, toward violence. It seems to fulfill some special need. I have never before or since committed such a murderous act, and from time to time I feel acute guilt that will never be erased from my mind.”

“What a tale,” Adelle said sympathetically. “There is evil on some level in every one of us. It’s enough to make me think twice about returning to the fray. Perhaps it is enough that we maintain this idyllic existence and do no harm.”

“It isn’t possible to ‘do no harm’,” replied Willie. “Unless we resist evil, we contribute to it by allowing it.”

“You sound almost Biblical.”

“Well, yes. It isn’t a question of religion,” Willie continued. “Existence is not Manichean. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has never caused any harm. That is because it would be impossible. It’s easy to say that Nature is free of wrongful intent. Yet every creature passes through life either killing or being killed. Is that bad? I can’t see how it is. Yet if anyone is killed by a wild creature, we would surely call that a bad event. No one is free of ill-will, and no one is wholly consumed by good. Nevertheless, there are degrees of ill or good, and we should call upon ourselves to protect and promote good, else ill shall finally triumph. If only for this reason, we must find a way to involve ourselves in the fate of the world. I know I’m pontificating, but the drift of the world must be stopped. Perhaps we don’t have an ultimate answer, but we really must try to make things better, according to our own values. Only Fate can finally adjudicate.”

“OK,” responded Adelle. “I think we should explore ways of becoming part of that ‘outside’ world. Probably the best way is to become active in some group struggling against the authoritarian nation ours has become. I know there are plenty of such groups. We need to find one that is simpatico with our goals. We’ve talked enough about our own goals for society that we will recognize one that shares feelings with us for the most part. Our goal must be to lift the veil from the eyes of those who would oppress.”

Willie was at odds with that description. “We cannot lift a veil from others unless we have a clear idea of any veils before us. To my mind, we cannot hope to enlighten others, no matter how much we are at odds with them, until we are confident of how and with what we would supersede their supposed hegemony.”

“Wow, that’s a mouthful,” Adelle retorted. “You’re starting to sound like some kind of professor! At the same time, it’s hard to disagree with your sentiments. We should be sure of what we want before we go around destroying the beliefs of others. The difficulty, it seems too me, is that it is hard to get these right-wingers to listen at all.”

“You got that right! For a huge portion of those who are followers of this regime, it’s more like a cult, which it is most difficult to change. Show them a fact, and if it differs with their beliefs, they’ll say you’re wrong. Another big part of the followers is those who have turned their Christian religious beliefs into something political that they believe they can use to impose their fundamentalist views on the rest of us.” Willie was getting worked up. “It’s working toward a theocracy, a right-wing theocracy at that.”

Adelle was convinced. Not that she needed much convincing. She was all in favor of trying to end the hegemony of the new President for Life. Her main caveat concerned the operational aspect. She had grown to love the sylvan sanctuary where they now lived and loved. Willie was more than accommodating. He, too, did not want to leave their peaceful place. “It’s time we put more effort into finding an anti-authoritarian organization with our values. We can approach things with the same sense of purpose we had seeking this place.”

“OK. I’m ready,” Adelle said with enthusiasm.

Chapter 3. Peace Now!

Willie and Adelle had decided to join a peace group. They also decided to join and become active while still enjoying the seclusion and relative safety of their new home. And first they wanted to enjoy their tranquility for a time. How much time? Until they felt enough guilt to motivate them, or news from the ‘outside’ became so dire they could no longer delay. That day came sooner than they thought.

Guilt was not a productive emotion, and they both knew it. They knew how to enjoy their ‘country’ living. And they did. They hiked around the neighborhood. They went to the beautiful beach on the Atlantic and swam exuberantly. They enjoyed the company of the birds, including the pair of Carolina wrens that built a nest in their garage. The birds made a mess, but it was worth it. They planted a small herb and vegetable garden, and they harvested raspberries and blueberries. At night they took out their reflecting telescope and looked at the moons of the planets. They cooked meals outdoors from time to time, but Adelle was such a good cook that she prepared many of the meals inside. This is only a sampling of the ways they enjoyed their life in the woods. But after a while they decided it was time to look at the wide world and try to help. It was time to join a peace group.

But which peace group would they join? They made a canvass of all they could find locally, locally being within twenty miles of their house. One of their earliest discoveries was that there are peace groups and there are peace groups. Some were more peaceful than others. Violence was not in Willie’s and Adelle’s bag of tricks. They found they could usually identify which was which in short order. A few times they were wrong. That did not deter them. They found that there were one or two that attracted them. They decided to join The Massachusetts Peacemakers. The Massachusetts Peacemakers was a quite small organization, dedicated to helping to end wars, both foreign and domestic. That there were domestic wars at all was amazing. Since the installation of a President for Life, vigilante violence increased rapidly. The President for Life had pledged that he would deport nearly all immigrants not from Europe. Millions of such immigrants existed, and President for Life found it very difficult, in fact impossible, to carry out his promise. Vigilantes, usually calling themselves militias, took to the streets and harassed and even killed many. Soon, opposing groups tried to bring this violence to a halt, but it only got worse. The vigilante militias began treating the opposing groups as ‘enemies of the people’ and started to kill them as well.

The opposition had begun as peaceful protesters, but it proved difficult to maintain such a position in the face of unrelenting, government approved violence. The Massachusetts Peacemakers were adamant about keeping their pacifist reputation. Being nonviolent made them natural targets of those who had no such aspirations. Willie and Adelle were to go through a time of demonstrating their own nonviolent convictions lasting about three months. During that time, they were present at demonstrations, protests, against rapidly increasing violence against women and revoking of women’s rights that had taken decades to win. At first, they were simply asked to be there. Soon they were carrying placards showing support for abortion rights, for access to contraception rights, for women’s rights in general to full health care. These had been stripped from women at the outset of the reign of President for Life.

When founded The Massachusetts Peacemakers were not structured to act in what had become political activities. Denial of women’s issues was something they were not willing to oppose, at least actively. The admixture of political and human rights aspects of women’s rights became too much for the Peacemakers to avoid. Even in states where lawmakers had heretofore made attempts to protect and sometimes to advance women’s rights the President for Life had asserted his power to control which laws were lawful and which were not. Generally, laws protecting or advancing women’s rights were unlawful and any restrictions were lawful. This Wonderland version of governance was against any idea of common sense, except for the purpose of extending autocratic powers.

Once again, the autocratic power, which included colonialist power, attempted to implement a program to eradicate Native Americans, all of them, a latter-day Shoah. Native Americans were brown, after all, and that made them inferior, and unworthy of living, according to the President for Life. This became another issue for the Peacemakers. Street roaming militias felt entitled to kill anyone they encountered they considered hostile. Soon they were coming to Native American enclaves in cities, and from there to reservations, latter-day concentration camps. Initially, the most vigorous resistance came from those Native Americans, who had learned from bitter experience how they could be exploited and persecuted.

Voting rights and other democratic institutions had been discarded under the new regime. It was no longer possible to elect lawmakers to advance progressive views. President for Life did want to pretend that there was such a thing as a Congress, so he designated from among his most ardent followers men, mostly men, to hold office in his designated kangaroo Congress. These would pass ‘laws’ as he chose, laws that were designed to reinforce his power.

Among the followers that he rewarded without naming them as Congressmen were those who were already wealthy. He did this mostly by eliminating taxes for the rich.

To lend a gloss of respectability to his decisions, President for Life employed a devoted Supreme Court. This Supreme Court consisted of nine men and women who could be counted on to do his bidding. Lower courts soon learned to do the same or expect to be replaced.

What resulted from all of this was skyrocketing inflation, skyrocketing unemployment, and skyrocketing prison populations. President for Life was also responsible for a stupendous increase in gun violence, and an equally stupendous rise in executions, public and private.

It soon became possible to express opposition to the President for Life and the destructive actions he was attempting only by taking to the streets or through organizing protest rallies. The possibility of such events occurring without violent interference became problematical.

It soon became clear to those wishing to restore a decent order that success depended very much on the attitudes and responses of police and military. Adelle and Willie were suspicious of these agents of ‘Law and Order’ recognizing that attitudes among both were mixed. Without the cooperation of the police and the military, if those joined the ranks of the autocracy, then successful resistance would be nearly impossible. Police had been ‘militarized’ some years earlier. They possessed weapons of war, not just those that might be needed to maintain public order, however that was defined.

Not wishing to test this situation with their own bodies, Adelle and Willie decided to return for a while to their woodsy retreat. They had been coming home every evening they were not at some protest, but now they wanted some respite, and planned to stay home, at least for a few days.

Chapter 4. Home, Sweet Home.

Once back home, they asked Adelle’s sister and her partner to visit. Their plan was to have dinner at the restaurant at the end of the road, to have a chance to chat with friends, and to watch the sailboats passing by. This would prove to be not quite possible, at least not entirely.

The sailboats had become scarce. The outdoor dining area was sparsely filled. Some favorites were missing from the menu. But they did enjoy an evening of fine weather, and the company of Adelle’s older sister Nancy and her partner Patricia. They were soon embedded in talk about how a pair such as Nancy and Patricia were surviving.

“Just to get here requires precautions,” said Nancy plaintively. “And once here, we are not assured of being welcome. There is no way of knowing how the staff here at this restaurant will greet us.”

Willie was deeply disturbed by this. “Adelle and I have always been treated well here. Now perhaps it is not even safe in our country refuge.”

“Perhaps so,” said Patricia. “We’ll see how things go this evening.”

Dinner turned out to be very pleasant. The outdoor dining area was almost vacant, so the four of them felt they could speak freely about what life was like in the age of President for Life. “Life has become quite dangerous for people like us,” said Nancy. “We can’t be sure whether we will be accosted in the street, and either arrested or otherwise abused.”

“I believe you,” answered Adelle. “It seems dangerous, it is dangerous, even for people such as Willie and me. Maybe not as bad as for a lesbian couple like you and Patricia, but we, too, never know when we will be stopped on the street seemingly for nothing. Taking part in a march, a protest, a demonstration makes you a target for the minions of President for Life.”

Once back home, Willie wanted to make his opinion clear: “It’s discouraging to think that it may take decades to rectify the damage being done. Even that’s assuming that all this will end. We don’t have any way of knowing.”

Adelle’s answer was “Unless I’m seriously mistaken, all autocracies fail under the weight of their own ‘sins’ and the seeds are bursting out just when the authoritarian feels he is most powerful.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not very comforting, even if true, at a time when we’re afraid to leave our house. I have no doubt that our house would be under closer scrutiny if it were more visible. By the way, you two are welcome to stay here as long as you wish.”

Adelle was slightly taken aback by Willie’s offer, but she immediately agreed. “We’ll often be gone on any given day, and we might not make it back that night until very late. That’s because we are very deeply involved in working with a group that is promoting peace, and peace is not likely while this dictatorship is in power. But I daresay it will be safer here, at least for now.”

Willie interjected again: “I’d like to tell you about a dream, a nightmare, I had a few months ago. It has haunted me ever since, and I have had very similar dreams a couple of times after that. Basically, in this dream, I encounter a scary beast, I mean a truly scary beast, and he is threatening me. He says that I have killed his only son, and now he must have my life as restitution. That’s it, and I have not been able to conjure up a meaning for this nightmare. Any ideas?”

“I’m guessing this has something to do with an event or events in your waking life.” Patricia had no professional experience in this regard, but she was willing to express her opinion, or rather her idea.

Nancy was more forthright. She was a strong believer that dreams were products of the past, and sometimes were harbingers of the future.

“I can see how this could be due to something in my past,” said Willie. “But it’s hard to see how any subconscious thoughts could predict the future.”

“They don’t. But they can result from something that perhaps is in your mind, something you are considering. That’s not predicting the future, but it does relate to the future.”

“Perhaps so. I never thought of it quite like that.” Willie had been sent on a path foreign to his mode of thinking. He had always been tied to a sequential way of thinking of what was going on. “Now the task is to figure out what I had been considering. Actually, I have an idea of what that might possibly be. Adelle and I had been torn between two possibilities: First, that we might retreat from today’s world, to come to a place such as this, which we love. It fulfills our fondest dreams. However, it is also a retreat from all the awful things going on both in our country and in the world. Our second possibility was to decide to engage in the fight against that world. As it happens, we are trying to do both. One interpretation might be that the beast of the dream is society today. The son is the society either yet to come, or maybe the society as we remember it. Either way, the prospects are not good. We cannot return to the society of the past, imperfect as it was, but we also cannot tolerate a future with a dictatorship, yet it will take more years than either Adelle or I have. We will have taken the next step long before that.”

Chapter 5. Resting Free.

It was still early evening, so the four decided to walk down the road at the end of the cul-de-sac. When they reached the side road to the island they went that way. Halfway across the bridge they stopped. Willie whispered, requesting quiet. He pointed across the water to the island. A beautiful white egret was walking in the shallow water. They watched in silence and wonder. It was such a spellbinding sight that none of them found words. They watched for several minutes as the bird moved slowly in the direction of the bridge. Finally, it dipped its long beak into the water. It withdrew its beak with a fish, and it flew off.

Far away, the lights of the city slowly came into view as the evening waned. Nancy and Patricia had not realized they were that close to their usual urban scene. Adelle told them “We can see the lights, but they are far away. There is a low hill on the island, and the lights are even clearer from there. Let’s go there.”

It was becoming dark, and Nancy and Patricia became slightly nervous. “We’re not used to being out this late,” said Nancy. “It isn’t safe most of the time these days.”

“It’s only nine o’clock,” exclaimed Willie. “But I guess things really have become that bad.” They turned around and headed back to the home of Adelle and Willie. It flashed through Willie’s mind that perhaps he and Adelle were leading lives that were too idyllic, and that the time had come for them to return to the city. Normally, when they were active, they did this daily, returning home at sundown. Lately, the price of gasoline had been increasing and availability had become a problem. He and Adelle had been considering how they could stay in the city some nights. They knew it entailed additional risk, and they were not as intrepid as they had thought.

Nancy had a suggestion. “Maybe you could stay at our place. We have a small apartment in the queer part of town. The location makes it something of a target, but so far, Patricia and I have been OK there.”

Willie was taken by the idea. “Maybe the best would be for you to stay here when Adelle and I want to be in the city since you have only one bedroom. You can stay here as much as you please. We have two bedrooms.”

“I’m all for that,” concurred Adelle. “Let’s face it, you two are prime targets even for murder. It isn’t entirely safe here, but it’s safer than your apartment in ‘queer town’ as you called it. Willie and I perhaps should be letting go of a little of the idea of this refuge. Now that we’re here, we plan to continue as long as possible, if we’re not dead or in prison. Willie and I should be returning to the fray, and soon. After all, why should we be happy when the world is in metaphorical flames?”

“Whether you should be happy is subjective,” said Patricia. “But I won’t deny that your offer to let us stay here is like manna from heaven. Given the present way the country is going, rights of LGBTQ+ folks are nonexistent. In fact, they are completely negative. Capital punishment is allowed for anyone caught in ‘sodomy.’ I’m ready to give staying here a try. How about you, Nancy?”

“Yeah, Patricia, yeah.”

“Don’t count on this being a safe place indefinitely,” warned Adelle. “You’ll have to stay just as cautious as you were in the city. Let’s hope it stays safe for a while, but there’s no guarantee.”

On that note, they all had their final cheese and cracker, drained their wineglasses, and off to bed.

The next morning, over breakfast, Willie and Adelle tried to explain what they were trying to do with The Massachusetts Peacemakers. Willie began, “We joined this group in part because of the name they used. Our objective, if one can be allowed such a selfish thing, was to promote peacemaking, and without violence. An unselfish objective would be to do what opposition leaders thought they needed, but that’s not our style.”

“Well, of course, it wasn’t quite that simple,” continued Adelle. “The Peacemakers tried to hold rallies and such promoting peace through nonviolent means. President for Life likes to think of himself as a strong leader, so he likes violence, if it’s his people who are doing the violence. And since at bottom he’s a coward, he doesn’t like to be there when the violence occurs. That may make even more violent violence to be used. Nonviolence for the Peacemakers became that much more unlikely. We, that is, they, have to defend themselves, n’est-ce-pas? So, the Peacemakers weren’t always so peaceful after all.”

“Well, anyway, we still go to protests and rallies where we try to be nonviolent. There are always infiltrators, enemy agents you might call them. Whatever. Sometimes the police come in force to break up the rally. The police are always a mixed bag. Some of them are aggressive. Some of the others may hold back. It is clear they do not relish their task. Still, it cannot be said that they are sympathizers with us. Other times it is militias that appear. If militias come, the police are very seldom on hand, except perhaps for a small contingent that affords token protection. They are nowhere to be found if the militias decide to harass us. We can be sure that some militia member will decide to attack some rally attendants. It’s not a nice world”

“Why not just stay here and try to ‘weather the storm’ as the saying goes.” Nancy was trying to be protective of her baby sister, who in the past had done the same for her.

“We made a commitment to ourselves that we would try to make some kind of contribution, pushing back against this return to medieval times. Thus far we don’t feel very successful. But we feel we must keep trying.” Willie was adamant.

Adelle was equally so. “We, all of us, allowed this world to come into being. We must do our part to get things right again. It’s ironic that the motto for the people who have done this was about returning the country to greatness. Whatever that means.”

Patricia felt a measure of unease at what Adelle and Willie had been telling them. She thought that she and Nancy should be doing more to help. “Well, in principle you could take a more activist stance,” said Adelle. “However, you would be taking far more of a chance than Willie or I. LGBTQ+ people had a hard enough time even during our ‘golden’ age of relative democracy. Today, you are playthings for the extreme right, and your lives are at stake, depend on it. The hate that has been released from any restraint by this dictatorship has no parallel since the Third Reich. So, the best thing you can do is survive and stay away from all conflicts if you possibly can.”

“All right. But know that we are forever in your debt for giving us asylum.”

“Not true. You are not in our debt; we are in yours. You had the courage to come out of the closet, as they say, when LGBTQ+ were being persecuted even by many ‘progressives.’ Now you are showing courage by sticking with your love in the face of virulent persecution.”

“Well, thanks. Not everyone has been so accepting as you through the years,” Patricia answered. “But I must tell you that we still want to help where and when we possibly can.”

“That’s decided, then,” said Willie. “You must be sure to keep your car in the garage. If you can, open the garage door briefly in the morning and in the evening. There’s a pair of Carolina wrens nested in a back corner of the garage. They will fly in and out right past your heads, but don’t be alarmed. They love us. Also, don’t forget that we feed songbirds every day. We ask only that you continue feeding them. Seed is stored in a trash can in the garage. The feeders are at the back of the house, so if you’re reasonably cautious you won’t be observed. It would also be nice if you could fill the hummingbird feeder with sugar water every couple of days.”

Adelle also had some things to say. “Relatively speaking, it’s safe around here, even though there are lots of archconservatives around. But they’re not the kind that sympathize with what’s happening. They won’t do anything to help them, but they also won’t do anything to oppose them. If it were me, I wouldn’t go out any more than necessary, and I wouldn’t go any further than necessary. There’s plenty of food in a freezer in the basement, so you can just stick around for the most part. It’s terrible that such things must be said, but that’s the way it is. Ach, the times we live in, if you can call it living.”

Nancy wanted to speak as well. “You can’t possibly know how this makes us feel. Along the way, as you are out risking your lives, I can only say, we’re hugely grateful, and if something comes up that we can help, please ask.”

“One problem with that is that it’s dodgy to talk on the phone. Someone may be listening, or intercepting.” Adelle wanted to devise a plan for communication that was reasonably secure. She was cognizant that today’s technologies made it difficult to maintain anonymity. But some kind of code for transmitting phone messages had to be invented. “How about if we put together a code that will make it a little harder for President’s men to intercept our messages? We could use that code both to speak on the phone, send phone messages, and so on. Text messages are not advisable because they can more easily keep archives. My idea of how to do that is to construct the code from common English words. The messages would of necessity be brief, but that should not be a problem. We can make the code such that keywords could be used to signal a longer message. I’m no coder, I’m not even a programmer, but we can work something out, can’t we?”

Chapter 6. Preparing.

The four of them spent the next several weeks figuring out a code that they thought would satisfy Adelle’s criteria for workable. It turned out to be a good deal more difficult than they had anticipated. A good part of their work was to devise one- or two-word phrases that would imply a longer phrase. The longer phrase had to be completely divorced from the code phrase. Yet the short phrases had to make some sort of sense. And the short phrases had to seem connected in some way.

A further task was to limit the number of longer phrases to be transmitted. This meant that the amount of information that could be transmitted was limited. They had to choose the information that was essential. None of them had any skill or experience at designing encrypted code. They had no idea if the code they devised would fool anyone at all. They were running on faith and a compulsion to act in some way.

After a few weeks, they were ready to try out their invention. It was possible to do this in Adelle’s and Willie’s home, but as they were going to use Nancy’s and Patricia’s cell phones, GPS could be used to locate them, so two sites were chosen for this first test. Still different sites were used for each subsequent test. The tests were successful in the sense that they were able to return home and compare notes about what they thought had been sent. To their relief, no squads of assassins came to the door, either. This gave them whatever confidence they were to have in their scheme, but that was none too much.

The time had come for Willie and Adelle to leave for the city. Willie had a large lump in his throat. Adelle was nervous, anxious. Nancy and Patricia were used to worrying and living in fear. Nancy gave Adelle a key to their apartment. They took no luggage. They did take a small amount of food, canned food enough for one day and some water.

Willie and Adelle set out in their car for the city. It was four in the afternoon. They could have taken a commuter train, but they reasoned that the chances were too high that informants or agents would be on board, and they might be accosted. That would have ended their work, and perhaps their lives, before it was started.

Hardly had they turned onto the highway to town than they started pining for their wooded paradise. “Damn these hateful, vengeful people for messing things up this way,” cried Adelle.

Willie was even more angry. “I hope these people all burn in Hell! We have to risk our lives for their paranoid rage.” Then he caught himself. “Wait a minute, my rage is just as intense, and it’s directed toward those we disagree with.”

“So what!” countered Adelle. “As I see it, we’re reacting to their hateful, destructive nihilism. If they weren’t so caught up in this myth that they are victims, they wouldn’t be creating so much chaos. The Hell with them! The world doesn’t need all this hate.”

“But wait,” said Willie. “We can’t be so self-righteous as all that. When the capitalist, colonialist economic system was growing, a system that led directly to so many feeling left out, what did people like us do? We helped out, we were part of that burgeoning system. We were only too glad to reap the rewards of the destruction of the ecosystem, with the rape of resources, with displacement of people our ancestors considered a little less than human. We were willing partners. Now it’s time for us to be accountable. That’s why we have to risk our lives and futures to stop this madness.”

Adelle felt chastised and nonplussed at the same time. “Whatever may have happened in the past, right now we’re joining the fray. Admittedly, we’re afraid, so afraid that we don’t have the courage to put our lives on the line in quite the way some others do. On the other hand, we are doing what we have the courage to do. And that includes trying to help people such as Nancy and Patricia. We’re not exactly cowards. We’re just not as brave as some others.”

Willie was nonetheless suddenly consumed by nostalgia. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back home. It was not in the cards. Hardly had they gone ten miles down the highway than they were overtaken by a car that suddenly flashed red and blue lights and flashed headlights at them. Willie pulled over to the shoulder of the road.

Two policemen got out of their patrol car with their guns drawn, to Willie’s amazement. “It’s even worse than I thought,” he thought. To Adelle he said, “Be careful not to do anything that will disturb them. No sudden moves, hands in plain sight, be courteous, always call them ‘officer’ and say ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no sir’. You know the drill. Above all, keep your heart in your chest.”

One of the cops approached the driver’s side. The other one kept himself slightly behind their vehicle. The first cop thrust his gun at Willie: “Keep your hands on the wheel! Put yours on the dash, lady.” The cop was decidedly hostile and loud. He told them both to get out of the car, and to put their hands on their heads. The second cop came to Adelle’s side of the car to make sure she complied. He ordered her to go around to the driver’s side. The first cop told them to put their hands on top of the car, and to spread their legs. Then he handcuffed them both. Once more or less defenseless, he frisked them both, grabbing Willie’s crotch in the process, and then doing the same to Adelle. Willie totally lost it.

“What the hell are you doing? Stop touching my wife that way.”

“Oh, she’s your old lady, is she? Well, this should be fun.” He grabbed her breasts and pulled on them. Then he pulled down her trousers, and she was left standing in her panties.

“God damn you! Stop that! Leave her alone.” Willie tried to push the cop away, but it was no use. “I’ll kill you, you fuck.” The cop smiled leeringly at Adelle. Then to Willie’s amazement, the second cop intervened. “Knock it off,” he shouted. Here lady, let me help you get your trousers back up. The first cop was furious. “Don’t you ever interfere with me again,” he screamed.

“We may be helping to build a new world, but not like this.”

“All right. We’ll deal with this here and now. You two, get back in your car and get the fuck out of here.” The second cop removed their handcuffs and Willie and Adelle were out of there.

Willie, with humility, told Adelle “I’m so sorry that happened. It just shows you what we’re dealing with these days.”

“Yes, I know,” said Adelle, “but remember that the second cop intervened. Not everybody in the President for Life’s world is hell-bent for murder, rape, and mayhem.”

Willie was shaking like a leaf, and he didn’t know if it was from rage or humiliation. “You weren’t humiliated,” said Adelle. “But try to remember how easy it was for you to become enraged. One day you may commit violence yourself.”

“I hope not,” rejoined Willie. “But you’re right. Anger is easy to show in these times. Let’s continue to where we think we can meet some of our fellow conspirators,” said he somewhat ironically.

They managed to get into the city without further incident, but Willie was having a harder time than Adelle getting over the feelings that were consuming him after the incident with the police.

Anyway, making sure to obey all the laws and avoiding places where they knew militias might congregate, they soon came to the home of their friend and fellow Peacemaker Stanley. Midge, Stan’s wife was not one of them. The most she would do was keep out of the way, not do anything suspicious, and not be an informer.

Stan was another matter. He was all gung-ho to bring President for Life to his knees. He had no idea how that might be done, but he was all for it, whatever it was. A rally was being held that evening of one of the most militant militias. Willie, Adelle, and Stan decided to attend as fellow militants, to see what they could find out about what plans were in the works, particularly plans of President for Life. They would dress as typical militants, with the right t-shirts and Doc Martens, complete with yellow sole stitching. Who knows, they might be the life of the party.

An hour later, they joined a crowd, mostly men, with a few women, in the largest park in the city. The crowd was not large, but they were vocal, shouting chants in praise of President for Life, and what was going to happen to those commie socialists, who wanted their guns.

Stan waded right in to mix with the gathering. Willie and Adelle were a bit more restrained, given that this was their first foray into territory where they were in the most danger. They did not expect to see President for Life, as he was either in the capitol or at one of his many properties. Willie and Adelle lingered at the rear of the assembly. There were several speakers, and they all said pretty much the same thing. There was a raised platform with microphones and two could speak at the same time. This might have made for a chaotic disorder, but the organizers had planned for this. For any two speakers, there was a sort of call and response. One would make a statement and the other would respond with an interpretation. Or one would pose a question and the other would give an answer. These were militant militants. Every statement or question, every interpretation or answer was couched in virulent terms. There was one constant: Everything could be taken as praise of President for Life or approval of one of his announced actions that he said he was preparing. But the militia promised much more than fealty to President for Life. The promise was to root out all dissenters, then all immigrants, then all LGBTQ+, then all people of color. All would be dealt with harshly, either with prison, torture, or executions.

Stan acted as though he approved of all these things, but Willie and Adelle were intimidated, frightened. The pair gradually backed away and made their way away from the rally. They were unaccustomed to this level of explicit violence. Neither of them could get any word to Stan, so they waited a little distance from the rally site. Eventually the rally dispersed without any hostilities, unusual for meetings of this sort. Usually, either opponents of President would show up and enter conflict with the militia, or infiltrators would be detected and beaten or worse. Stan rejoined Willie and Adelle, and they made their way back to Stan’s place.

Willie and Adelle had lost heart. They wanted to return to what they thought of as their wooded paradise. And they did. “I’ll contact you with a coded message if anything urgent comes up,” were Stan’s parting words.

Willie drove slowly, but not too slowly, so he wouldn’t attract too much attention. Their sylvan sanctuary was some miles out of town, and they did not find another tussle with the police very appealing. The feeling of relief was palpable as the car entered the road leading to their cul-de-sac. As they went up their driveway Adelle turned to Willie, who was driving, and said “In the short time we have lived here, I’ve grown to love it more than I ever thought I would. However, we must send a coded phone signal to Nancy and Patricia. They are definitely not expecting us.”

“Right,” said Willie. “We should wait here at the bottom of the driveway until we hear back from them.” Willie sent the signal that they were in the driveway. They expected a return signal from their friends, but instead the two came out of the house and walked down the driveway to greet them.

Willie and Adelle got out of the car and the four of them embraced each other warmly. “How exciting to see you again so soon,” exclaimed Patricia. “But we did not expect this. I hope everything is OK.”

“We’ll fill you in when we get inside,” said Adelle. “Let’s go in. And we are OK.”

It was late evening, and normally the lights would not be on. A small lamp was lit in the living room so attention would not be drawn. The blinds were closed, so the house appeared dark. There was no reason to fear drawing attention, anyway. Thus far, there had been no activity in their locale that had drawn suspicion from the militias and other instruments of power, destruction, and cruelty. The sense of imminent danger among those living in the house was not reasonable.

Willie began to reveal the events of the previous few days. “Adelle and I had traveled to the city thinking to attend a rally of some militia to observe and understand the motives of those militia members. We met with our compatriot Stan, who already had plans to attend a certain rally. We offered to go with him. When we got to the rally, Stan readily mingled with the militia types. Adelle and I were more reticent. We stayed at the rear of the crowd. When we heard some of the plans of the speakers, we both became alarmed. We retreated to a safe distance and waited for Stan to meet us. Surprisingly, the rally ended without incident. Stan found us and we returned to his place.”

“We told Stan that we wanted to return home for a time,” said Adelle. “We didn’t discuss the reasons we wanted to do that.”

“We would like to have a serious discussion with you,” Willie said.

“Yes, of course,” offered Nancy. “But first, how about some refreshment? Maybe a little white wine, a Sauvignon blanc, and some hummus, cheese, and sourdough.”

Adelle cried “Sounds great, thanks, and we can talk as we eat and drink.”

Chapter 7. Back Home.

They, too, wanted to love but did not know how to say it.
Joy Harjo

Nancy and Patricia, and Adelle and Willie, sat in the living room in front of the fireplace. They were four very close friends, with a passion for knowing how to live properly, better, how to live fruitfully. The wine was excellent. The hummus, cheese, and bread were good as well. Willie asked for olive oil to dip his bread in. This was surely an enticing way to exist. Even considering this they were ready to discuss the affairs of the world, and the affairs of their little woodland household, and how to experience life.

Willie tried to relate why he and Adelle did not stay in the city, why they did not continue with what they had set as their mission, to find a way to resist effectively the authoritarian world in which they found themselves. “Leaving orthodox theology aside, it seems to me there are two principal ways to confront existence. Each of these two ways has many variations and each can be followed in some intermediate, one might even say ‘mixed’ fashion. Simply put, one can enjoy a life separate from the ordinary ways of ‘civilization’ or one can be actively involved in trying to guide society in some fashion. In terms of our own situation, Adelle and I decided not very long ago that we wanted a small house in a woodland area, that we wanted to live a quiet life apart from what we thought of as the evils of modern times. The result was this place we are in at this moment.”

Adelle had some additional comments. “At first, we were very happy here. The word ‘idyllic’ may be overused, but it is completely appropriate to our situation in this place. We were surrounded by wooded expanses that gave us nearly perfect privacy. Well, you’ve been living here for a while. You know what it’s like. The yard inside the limits of the trees is large, but private. There are a few well-placed trees within the yard. There is a garden, planted by us. Close to the trees on one side of the lot there are raspberries and blueberries in abundance.”

“There is a quite beautiful expanse of ledge,” continued Willie. “It’s a perfect location for feeders for songbirds. The variety of such birds that we see is astonishing. Some of the smallest ones have become quite trusting. They sometimes feed out of my hand. You know about our screened-in porch and the open deck next to it, with a stairway down to the ledge and the feeders. Yet on the open porch we have installed a hummingbird feeder, and a second hummingbird feeder mounted on one of our living room windows. Both attract the only hummingbird species found in Massachusetts, the ruby throated.”

Adelle was enthused. “Wildlife is abundant. Of course, all the songbirds are wild, but they’re the tip of the iceberg. We have other birds, owls, Cooper’s hawks, corvids, and others. Coyotes are abundant, as are red foxes and white-tailed deer. Black bears are nearby, though not in profusion. We’ve had a large turtle cross our driveway. Some we seldom see, such as opossums, raccoons, and so on.”

“We once had a large population of bats that we could see at the end of the cul-de-sac,” said Willie. “If we go to the bridge that crosses to the island we see all sorts of water birds. I forgot to mention the small pond in one corner of our lot. It has an artificial waterfall, lots of goldfish, a few koi, and several bullfrogs. The latter serenade us day and night. Beautiful!”

Willie continued. “We do need a limited number of things from the outside world. The most important is food. So, we work with local farmers. Poultry can come from locals who raise free-range birds. Water comes from a well, and power from solar panels. From time to time, we have other ways of communicating with the rest of the world. It’s a risk, but we think it’s relatively safe. So, that’s the way we live.”

“In short, paradise,” injected Adelle.

“Fair enough,” said Nancy. “Patricia and I have been here for a few weeks, and we concur. So what?”

Adelle was slightly taken aback by this response. “You guys love the place and the area. You’ve been invited to stay as long as you wish. What’s with ‘so what’?”

Nancy took a sip of her Sauvignon blanc. “It brings us back to Willie’s little speech a while ago about different ways of living life.”

“You’ve come to the crux of the matter. Good.”

It was Patricia’s turn. “Nancy and I have been only too willing to take advantage of your offer of letting us stay. But at what cost? I don’t refer to money. I mean the social functions of life we are foregoing. We have no friends here other than you two. We are, to a degree, trapped in our refuge.”

“That’s what Adelle and I want to consider tonight. We certainly recognize the isolation we must all endure. The alternative is to reenter life in a city-like environment, at least in the sense that we must radically increase the chances of conflict with today’s dictatorship. My opinion is that we can only do that honestly by joining some kind of opposition. It’s hard to see how we can avoid detection over the long term, and that may be literally fatal. The two of you may be especially vulnerable, given the nature of your relationship.”

Adelle wanted to share her thoughts. But first she wanted to sip some wine. All of them were made more intimate and willing to share intimate ideas from the alcohol. Wine and cheese were the best ideas of the night thus far. Nevertheless, Adelle was looking for better ideas than food and drink. “We have many choices. Right now, we’ve chosen to hide from what we think are forces of evil. Clearly, we can do more. What is the risk worth to us to join the fray. There can be no doubt that the present regime must be defeated, and some semblance of democracy must be established. The issue for us is whether we want to leave our present situation and put ourselves at risk.”

“That brings up a different point entirely,” said Willie. “What is the object of life? If we stay here in the forest, the options are very wide. But who are we? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of my life? How free should we feel to pursue our dreams? Are those dreams legitimate? Or are we socially and politically obliged to work against the regime?”

“OK. What is the object of life?” Patricia was disturbed by the very query. “Is this a metaphysical matter that has no answer? I am disturbed to feel that perhaps it is. There may be no objective answer. More seriously, there may be no object of life. Might we be just accidents of the cosmos?”

“I don’t think so,” answered Willie. “We are probably not accidents of the cosmos. But what we are and what is the meaning of our lives probably cannot be known. Yet certainly we can keep out of harm’s way without trying to answer such questions. If we decide to hide out here, we likely will not upset the unfolding of the universe. In the end, we will have to decide what we want to do, or what we feel we must do. Maybe we should consider what it would mean to us if we decide to join the resistance. I for one am terrified of the prospect, but I feel we are making ourselves special, better than others by staying here. Anyone have any ideas?”

“Well, this is more of a philosophical discussion than anything,” began Nancy.

“It isn’t philosophical, it’s practical,” countered Willie. “An attempt to construct a way to act in what any sane person would call perilous times. Given either of the scenarios we have proposed, both would ultimately be dangerous. In the first, case, we are opting for relative comfort but with unavoidable danger. In the second case, we would be choosing to risk our lives deliberately for what we see as an existential menace.”

“It sounds like the old adage ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’,” Patricia added.

“Is it?” Adelle was intrigued by the options they had expressed thus far. She thought they should perhaps consider more choices. “Consider the original plan that Willie and I had decided upon just a few weeks ago. We had decided to spend as much time as possible here, and periodically visit the city to survey what was happening and help. We failed at our first attempt, but remember we were pretty active before Willie and I moved here. Maybe that’s our problem. Maybe we should forsake this place and move to the city.”

“Like Hell,” rang out Willie. “Now that we have this place, I won’t give it up until I’m six feet under. We were able to accomplish quite a bit when we were making daytrips to the city. That situation was productive and yet we came home nearly every night.”

Adelle wanted to talk: “The number of nefarious operations going on right now is mind-boggling. The tools available to resist are sorely limited. Gone are the rights of women, not just control over their own bodies, but freedom from exploitation by men, gone is the right to birth control, gone is the protection, gained after so much misery and incredible effort, of protection from assault, including rape and physical beatings by men. Gone is the right to owning property, even in a time of fanatical promotion of capitalism. Gone is the right to divorce, except by declaration of the husband. Gone is the right to protect her children from mayhem coming from a drunken husband, or from any man, for that matter. Many are the women killed by a furious man because she tried to prevent beating of her children. In this age of asserted male supremacy a woman risks her life simply walking down a street alone. Even if she is not alone, whether with another woman or with a man, she still may be subject to arbitrary cruelty from some man who is drunk, angry, just plain brutal and cruel, or perhaps all those. All this because enough people were willing to support a madman, a paranoid, nihilistic compulsive liar, to put him in the presidency. Now he will never relinquish power until he dies, unless we are willing to defy him and his cruel henchmen, wherever we find them.

Willie now took his turn: “A couple of years ago the so-called Supreme Court granted the President total immunity from any ‘official’ acts performed while President. That means that absent effective action by what’s left of people such as us, that President for Life is indeed President for Life, basically a King. That’s why so many rights of women have disappeared. It’s also the reason many rights of men are also gone. At the same time, some men have been given new rights. There’s no telling how long those rights will stick around. It all depends on the whims of our new ruler. Men, at least white men, now have the right to kill. They can kill with or without malice, but they can kill. Anyone they choose to kill. Yet they are subject to a kind of retribution, and may themselves be killed, should they displease the President for Life. The rules are not rules, they are arbitrary, subject ultimately to the wishes of the President for Life. Given the way white men kill, torture, or maim with such abandon, men of color have taken up the sword in self-defense. In many cases women as well, to be sure. It is now illegal to be other than a White Evangelical so-called Christian. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestants of all denominations not White Evangelical, Islam, Judaism, and any other faith, including atheism are all forbidden. Muslims are forbidden even to enter the country. Latinx, whether citizens heretofore or not, are being methodically rounded up and deported. Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and so on are forbidden to practice their religion, and if discovered doing so are arrested and never heard of again.

“There are rumors of camps for dissidents, for all of those I have cited, and for folks like us who resist this brutal regime. Now don’t let us forget LGBTQ+ people, who are being mistreated as never before, including times past when they were anathema. Now, they’re too many times no longer anathema, they’re just dead.

“Nancy and Patricia, you are pretty much imprisoned here in our ‘paradise’. The ‘queer town,’ as you liked to call it has been emptied of its denizens, queer or straight. Guilt by association, I guess.”

An atmosphere of gloom had descended upon them all. After a few minutes of silence, Nancy proposed that another bottle of wine was called for, and with alacrity she went to the kitchen and returned with sustenance for all. It was accepted with a modicum of cheerfulness, but certainly without joy. Adelle went to a cabinet and returned with a bottle of scotch and more glasses. “Given how horrible things have become we deserve something a little stronger.”

Willie turned down his glass. “I’ll stay satisfied with the wine. It’s been a long time since I drank hard liquor, and I want to keep it that way. The rest of you are welcome, anyway. Enjoy.”

Patricia was primed and ready to contribute: “If Nancy and I were to show our relationship openly, we would probably be in danger from these ‘Christians’. So, my guess is that we would do best by not associating too closely with each other. But I can’t ignore her completely, and I hope she feels the same. She is the ‘love of my life’ as the saying goes. I don’t see how I could go on without her.” She took another sip of wine. “Wine loosens my tongue, but what I am saying now is the God’s truth.”

“Probably the best thing to do,” said Willie, as if he had the answers, “is to confine your physical expressions to this house and its environs. That may be difficult to do. It won’t be difficult if you stay here and stay away from the city. Anyway, I think you should stay here in any event. Adelle and I love you both, and if we can help to keep you safe, we’ll do it.”

“All right. We do love each other. But what do we do about controlling our present situation?”

No one had a ready answer. It was clear that a lot more work was needed to arrive at a consensus. And they were seeking a consensus that was not merely retreating into hiding. How did they weigh risk against duty, or patriotism, or whatever they wished to call it? It was abundantly clear that existence had become perilous.

Adelle began “We can try to stay here, trying to stay undetected as enemies of the people, as President for Life puts it. This is marginally possible, at least for a time. Eventually we would be found out, no matter how hard we try to be anonymous. Is this what we want to do?”

“What’s the alternative?” asked Willie. “Assuming there is an alternative. Who knows, maybe there is an array of choices.”

“Well, of course there is an alternative. Grammatically there can be only one alternative, but practically there are lots and lots,” said Adelle.

“You two are at even greater risk than are Adelle and me,” declared Willie.

“That depends on what each of us does,” retorted Patricia.

“In my opinion,” said Adelle, “Willie and I must find a way to confront the enemy directly. I’m not sure what that entails. We must work on a plan of action. I don’t think very much of the idea of using your apartment in ‘queer town.’ That’s like saying ‘come and get me.’ I don’t want anyone to come and get me.”

“And where does that leave us? Stanley has found a way to remain in the city, but I don’t know his setup,” said Willie.

“The only way to deal with this rationally is to have another glass of wine.” Nancy was getting a little tipsy. “Maybe another shot would be even better.”

“Best of all is to cut you off,” was Adelle’s opinion.

“Truthfully we’re not getting anywhere,” Willie exclaimed. “Maybe we should all sleep on it and resume in the morning.”

“Patricia, what do you think?” “I think that’s a good idea, but I’d like to add that it might be helpful to get Stanley out here to find out what he does that keeps him safe.”

“An excellent idea. We can talk about how to do that in the morning. It’s after midnight. Let’s get some sleep.”

Chapter 8. Morning Blues.

Adelle was first up the next morning. She made coffee, scrambled some eggs, and woke everybody else up. Patricia came out rubbing her eyes and yawning over and over. She declared that she wasn’t sure if she would be much help in their discussions that day. Adelle told her that was ridiculous. Patricia wasn’t so sure. In any event, Willie soon joined them. Nancy had to be dragged out of bed. “That’s OK. She’s always like that,” explained Patricia.

Willie had skipped the scotch. The other three were slightly hung over. “Coffee and eggs with toast will help, and I’ve fixed all three,” announced Adelle.

“God bless you.” Patricia was clearly appreciative. Willie was as well, but he was not hung over even slightly. “Aspirin all around,” was Willie’s prescription, and all concurred.

By ten everyone was chipper and ready to resume. “Let’s skip the booze this morning” was Willie’s advice. Again, all concurred.

“OK, let’s begin.” The first order of the day was to communicate with Stanley that they would very much like to see him to discuss an urgent matter. Willie volunteered to go away from the house so that a call to Stan could not be easily traced. This was a silly precaution, as GPS on their phones was always on, so if the enemy wanted to find them they could. Nonetheless, Willie went to the nearby restaurant anyway. He called Stan using their code saying that he would like to visit him. There was no response. Willie returned home and after discussing the lack of an answer, they decided that Willie should go to the city and try to find out what was what.

Willie pulled his car out of the garage and headed off. The three women decided to talk to each other even without Willie. “Ultimately, now is perhaps the most perilous time in our history. And I say that in full recognizance of past sins of the U.S. Slavery was called the ‘original sin’ of the country, and it was. But there were many other ‘sins’ committed over the last several hundred years. But these sins were all carried out under the context of an aspiring democratic republic. Today, President for Life explicitly says that his goal is the destruction of that democracy.” Adelle was adamant about her opinions.

The three continued revealing their fears for several hours into the early afternoon. Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of Willie’s car in the driveway. Willie came into the living room and sat down with the women. “Why such a gloomy look?” asked Adelle. “I don’t have any good news,” replied Willie. “Obviously I didn’t bring Stanley with me. And the reason for that is distressing beyond measure. Stanley has joined a militia. He has completely abandoned the cause and now supports the President for Life.”

“Oh my gawd!” exclaimed Adelle. “Why would he do such a thing?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea. I didn’t get to see him. A neighbor told me that Stanley was fervently talking about how President for Life was going to save the country from ‘communists and socialists’ and from the Blacks and the Jews. He claimed that these left wing ‘traitors’ were planning to replace White men with inferior Blacks and money-grubbing Jews.”

“How did this happen?” asked Nancy.

“I don’t know,” Willie exclaimed. “I just know that he’s not the first turncoat to become lost to the idea of democracy. In fact, when President for Life first came to power, with the help of the Supreme Court, his followers were less than a majority. In such an event, it is amazing how many who previously opposed such a man decide to acquiesce and disavow any resistance. Such people become only too willing to denounce their former allies. It’s a standard technique of propaganda to tell the same lies interminably, over and over, and sooner or later some people who were resistant will choose to believe. It’s a factor in the rise of any tyranny. For our part, we’re lucky that Stanley does not know where we are living, but it’s safe to assume that Stanley has denounced us, and we are therefore not as safe as before.”

“Come what may,” responded Adelle, “we must resist any propaganda thrown our way. To tell the truth, we should devise our own propaganda and find ways to disseminate it.”

“A few demonstrations, rallies, and protests still occur as people come to realize what President for Life is bent on doing. Usually, the police show up and arrest the leaders, but the crowd disperses. But sometimes thugs or even a militia may show up instead, and then violence follows. Since the Supreme Court ruled a few years ago that the President was immune from prosecution for any act committed while in office, many of his followers have assumed that they can commit once illegal acts with impunity. President for Life will simply pardon them. Murder, at least murder committed by the President’s followers, has become legal.” Willie continued his gloomy aspect as he said these words.

Patricia said “This is a cogent explanation of what we face. How do we tell friends from enemies? In this accursed era, we now think our dearest friend may denounce us. I do have complete faith in the three of you, but beyond that, who knows what gives?”

“That’s a good argument for the choice of staying here and making the most of what we have.”

“That may seem a good choice, Nancy, but we must do whatever we decide to do, and I believe we are fated to be together, the four of us, for some time, but again, whatever we decide to do, it must be with the understanding that the changes in our country will take decades to undo. Whatever we were before, we will never be in that place again. It will be different, but we cannot know exactly how, or even when. This is an argument, take it or leave it, for not staying here. If we do so, even successfully, we will be a part of President for Life’s melodrama, and we will not help to end his hegemony. None of us has children, but we will contribute to the probable sufferings of generations to come after us. Do we want to do that?” Willie paused in his pontificating.

Nancy took it up in her brand of philosophy. “How might it be if we choose some other plan of action? I daresay we might just be choosing to walk into early death. What is death? What is life? I don’t know too many things for certain, but I am certain that when we enter this world, our life is travelling towards death. Death is the only thing we can count on with certainty, absolute certainty. Perhaps a better question would be, what will my life be? Truthfully, I don’t care much how my life will end, except I don’t want pain and suffering. I do care how I live my life, even though I have no idea what I’m doing at this moment. What is life? What is death? I can’t answer these metaphysical mysteries. But I suspect that a passive life would not be satisfying.”

“OK. What might some other plan of action be?”

Nancy became contemplative. “Every strand of my soul wants to stay here and experience pleasure. Why not? If things are not going to change in our lifetimes, why worry about it? Stay here and at least be peaceful, even if we don’t exactly have peace of mind.”

“We’ve already listed some of the rights that women are losing. Here’s another kind of civil liberty that is going out the window. President for Life has sworn publicly that he will deport all immigrants and he has begun the process. As usual he doesn’t know what he’s saying, the import of what he is saying. We’re all immigrants in this country. I count even those brought here against their will. The only exceptions would be what are termed ‘Native Americans.’ But I think he has in mind mostly those who are not his supporters, and who are not White Christian Supremacists. In particular, he wants to deport all those who are from Central and South America, including Mexico, and from the Caribbean, even if they are citizens or have green cards. Nevertheless, that means over eleven million people, at the least. That’s over five percent of the population. It’s an impossible task, but he is willing to disrupt the country in unknown ways. He has other plans to oppress non-white peoples. He is creating what are basically concentration camps, as his deportation program falters. Cruelty seems to be the point. He separates children from their parents, never to be united again. In places where his deportation plans have failed, he can simply ‘disappear’ people, and they are never heard from again.” Willie fell silent, as he contemplated the import of his words.

“But it gets worse,” burst out Adelle. “Yes, our listing of women’s lost rights is certainly horrible, and what Willie just said about immigrants describes the situation graphically. Beyond all those atrocious ways President for Life is attacking our democracy, he has militarized or weaponized most of the government, insisting on fealty, or he has dissolved those parts where he failed. If he cannot command fealty, he dissolves those bodies as well. He has dissolved the FBI, the Department of Justice, the EPA, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Education. Some of these he did not completely dissolve, but replaced personnel with his followers, his lackeys. He has created a national police force, replacing the various National Guards, which were state institutions. As much as he talked about leaving power to the states, he has instead federalized many former state institutions into a central government. This is a classic tactic of dictators. In the military itself, he has replaced those senior officers he did not trust with sycophants.”

Nancy had a few things she wanted to point out. “Thus far, he has allowed private militias to continue. This amounts to condoning violence against his opponents. And violence occurs regularly. It will continue until President for Life decides he no longer needs it, or until we and our allies stand against it and subdue it. The cruel and vicious violence is always directed against those who are least equipped to resist. Remember, there was a previous attempt to overthrow the elected government. That attempt failed, but this one was accomplished through the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, now turned into a body with the sole purpose of rubber-stamping the acts declared by President for Life, was packed a few years ago into an ultra-conservative Court, but now it’s allegiance to President for Life is out in the open. There is no two ways about it.”

“Sure, but we still must find a way to set things right,” said Willie. “We can go on with listing all the ways President for Life has usurped all government policies and bodies. Or we can figure out how we can best resist.”

“It’s really sad, tragic, that our culture seems to have evolved into a culture of hate,” said Adelle, with a tear in her eye. And by challenging that culture, we effectively become purveyors of hate ourselves. Yet truly, I cannot see how we can overcome the vile regime of President for Life without resorting to violence. How else can we do it?”

“Consider the example of non-violent resisters of the past,” suggested Willie. In recent history, there have been numerous examples of using non-violent means of bringing about change. The most famous recently have probably been Ghandi and Rev. King.”

“And they were both assassinated,” exclaimed Adelle.

“But did they bring about change, change for the better?” returned Willie. “I say that they did.”

“So, are you willing to give your life to effect change?”

“That brings us back to the teleological issue of finding a meaning and a purpose to life. Not a theological viewpoint, not how we got here. Rather it is what makes life worthwhile? Personally, I believe that each of us must decide about that for ourselves. And that can run a gamut from staying alive at all costs to being willing to give your life for ‘the greater good’. What exactly is ‘the greater good’? For myself,” Willie continued, “I am ready to take risks, but not foolhardy risks. Foolhardy risks are giving aid and comfort to our enemies. On the other hand, it would seem that if one does nothing, that is awarding even greater aid and comfort.”

“We can go on about these issues forever, but if we all agree that we should do something, then we should talk about what that something might be, or more forcefully, will be.” Adelle was now prepared to ‘cut to the chase’ as they say.

Chapter 9. Time to Act.

Willie and Adelle had already made a couple of attempts at joining the fray, and those didn’t turn out too well. They had to search for a better way of acting. First, they needed to explore the thoughts of Nancy and Patricia.

Adelle asked the question. She asked Nancy and Patricia how they felt about entering the struggle. Nancy was Adelle’s friend. Now, they were all friends. Speaking for the pair, Nancy related that they were both eager to work with Willie and Adelle, but it must be on terms they could all agree upon. “OK. What are the terms?” asked Adelle.

“The terms are that we must never be apart, that we always agree on any action to be taken, and that if any of us is lost, those remaining will still be together. Finally, we must all agree that we will never give up until this monster is overthrown.”

“Hooray!” shouted Willie. “How about a glass of wine to celebrate?”

After a few hours of fraternité et sororité along with liberté et egalité they were prepared finally to get down to details.

First on the list was where would they stay.

“I think we should all make this place our home, on a permanent basis. We will try to keep its location secret as long as democracy is in abeyance.”

“I agree completely, Willie,” concurred Adelle, “and we must ensure that we are always in contact with each other.”

“What does that mean, exactly,” asked Nancy, “especially the last part.”

“Well, sometimes we will not be physically together. We’ll have to devise a plan, probably by encrypted phone messages, that ensures that any of us can communicate with the other three. Before PFL, there were online services allowing encrypted messages such as Telegraph. Now those are all forbidden. PFL keeps very tight control of online services and apps. It’s ironic that before he took over the government, online apps were one of his favorite ways to send his messages to his followers.”

“Earlier, we made a code to use to send short messages to each other that we thought would exclude eavesdroppers. Can we use that code?”

“I think we can,” replied Willie, “but it is an amateur code devised by us. We can’t be sure how secure it is. It would help if we had an expert programmer on board. But we don’t, so let’s take a chance and use our code.”

All agreed.

Nancy said “We can play only a small part in the overall effort, but we can definitely help. This is the worst political disaster to come to this nation in the last three hundred years.”

“True enough, if you don’t count the attempts by Europeans to annihilate the indigenous populations, or the monstrous enslavement of Africans, and of indigenous populations as well.

The four of them had made a choice. They had decided between Choice and Tyranny, and they had chosen to resist tyranny. They were firmly committed to resisting. They all knew that this meant that at least one or perhaps all of them would make the ultimate sacrifice. As a way of acknowledging the sanctity of life, they had also decided to spend as much time as practical at their wooded sanctuary, always together.

Only the Fates would decide their future.

This entry was originally intended to be a publication, but it turned out to be too short for that purpose. I decided to present it as an audio narration.