Everyone has heard this a hundred times, yet in today’s
world it is paramount you heed this advice. When you are in public, behave like
you are in public. Remember there are cameras everywhere and everyone wants
that YouTube success video. You do not need to be plastered all over the
internet behaving in such a way that the most common comment is: “get a room”
or “you know they aren’t married” Please, no one really wants to see your two backends
bouncing on a chair built for ½ a person. And being so drunk you cannot even
sit up straight is no excuse.
Love your family, talk to them, forgive them, whatever is
needed. Live is too short to die angry. And in my work world I see examples of
this way too often. Yes, I know you can choose your friends, but you can’t
choose your family, but do not make that your life. They will disappoint you
sometimes and you can be angry. Just don’t carry it to the grave.
Right now, I still love my Mavs, yet sheesh, some
consistency of play would be nice. And who knows what is going on in Nerlens
Noel’s head.
And here is the conclusion of my latest story:
For about a year the world was at war. No one really cared
what started it, yet every regional conflict you could imagine had blown up.
Right now, no one had used nuclear weapons, but stories were coming out of
biological and other chemical weapons being used.. Slowly rational heads came
together. Most of Europe was only mildly affected other than heavy fighting in
the Ukraine. Russia wasn’t winning so they were able to agree to a cease fire.
They needed one. They were fighting in Georgia and other territories throughout
their mid Southern border. China really didn’t want this war because it
interfered with their economic growth plans. They did not want a multiple front
war and yet were fighting three. They almost attempted an attack on Taiwan or
the Republic of China, however, they were flanked by Japan and South Korea and
the war with North Korea. They kept a large army on the border to prevent it
spilling into their country. Also, they had a large insurgency in Tibet
fighting them. Africa was a hotbed of all sorts of fighting. Luckily South
America and Australia managed to be free of attacks and only sent some troops
as allies of one side or another throughout the world
And the Middle East was just a disaster from Turkey to the
Kurds to Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. Fighting existed throughout the
region. Country against country, terrorist state against country or another
terrorist state. No one knew where the lines were at any given moment, nor if
they could trust any other group as an ally. Sides changed quickly. Israel took
on many factions, yet even those seemed to change weekly depending on what was
going on amongst the other countries in the region. The world grew weary fast,
but it would still take time to sort out peace. Hatred is much more powerful
than even greed.
Well, there was one person who cared who started the war.
Jill had determined most of the facts that triggered the lead up to the
President starting the war with the troops he sent to Saudi Arabia that ignited
the fight between Iran and Saudi Arabia. She knew most to just about all the
players.
She knew some of the why and there was one person she still
wanted to know. She didn’t know for sure 100% who shot Congressman Greg. Greg
was the center point, and this is what she knew.
Congress was at a standstill. The President had been on a
war footing for his whole term. He wanted to prove he was a great leader and
winning a war was the way in his head. Problem was no one wanted war, no one in
Congress, not even his generals, much less another country. So, when Saudi
Arabia made their threat, he in his own thoughts, didn’t see him being
pressured into a bad decision, he saw it as an opportunity. His party had a
slim majority in Congress and they wanted to appease him to get their agenda
passed, yet war was not an option. Congress finally declared war on a few
countries two months after the fighting began, just because they were backed into
a corner. The military sales to Saudi Arabia barely passed. And Greg couldn’t
vote.
In fact, if the Persian who was the Russian agent, had contacted
Greg and gotten some assurances from him that he would vote against arm sales
to Saudi Arabia he could have taken that back to Iran even as a Russian agent
and been able to assure the Revolutionary council that Saudi would not get what
it wanted, he would have been able to persuade the government to ignore Arabian
bluster. The world would still be a tinder box, yet no matches would have been
lit. Paul’s superiors would have been able to talk the President back from the
ledge once again and convinced him they would get him re elected for a second
term and a larger majority in Congress, so he could do what he wanted. Paul’s
superiors knew all along it would be what they wanted which as always was to
control world markets with oil. They were still working to control Russian flow
of oil to manage their efforts when the war started.
Jill pieced this puzzle together. She knew the personalities
of all the American players and their agendas. She knew Greg always voted in
best interests of the country. She dealt deeper into the Russian agent’s past
and determined he was up to something in Iran. She didn’t know the underground
Persian group, yet she made some determinations there was turmoil brewing. She
traced the American agent killed and had an idea of his efforts and his contacts
in Iran which crossed the Russian agents contacts. She knew the Colonel that
killed the Iranian Father of the small boy. She did not know the grooming of
the small boy to be a leader of the Persian movement had begun. His anger as a
child was their psychological weapon. The war weakened Saudi Arabia and they knew
it. Persia would regain prominence in the world. Russia knew Saudi was weakened
and was making plans. And the Americans were scrambling to maintain control
with a weakened Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud suffered great losses
militarily and internally. They never lost the war. It ended in a stalemate,
yet they were diminished. Much had changed all over the world, but the smallest
human frailties in life still are the most important.
Paul’s superiors wanted Greg dead. They knew he would always
vote against them. They also knew Paul and his crew missed and there was still
much of the investigation going on. They were covering their tracks as best
they could. The SUV being found didn’t help. A special election in advance of
the general election to get their man elected was the plan.
Jill discovered, followed, pieced together much of the
story, yet not all, but the one piece she wanted desperately to know was being
told to Sheriff Daniel. Greg was recuperating, yet he would never know one iota
of his being shot changed the world. And even Sheriff Daniel would never tell
Greg what he was told. If only the Russian agent of Persian descent had caught
up to Greg things would be different. Jill even knew that. She knew Sandra had
finally dropped Greg or so Sandra thought. Greg had been called away from her
as part of the cleaning up Paul’s superiors directed. Jill knew they called him
off. Congressman Greg and Sandra would continue as husband and wife and Greg
would never be the wiser. Sandra was honestly happy Greg survived and would
heal. She buried the past.
Jill didn’t know how crazy the truth.
The hunter and longtime friend of Daniel, Greg, Samuel and
everyone else in the community who found Greg in the woods was talking about it
with the Sheriff in his office. He had always been one of those guys who knew
everyone, was well liked, but non-descript. And unfortunately, very jealous of
how popular was Greg. The nurse that helped the doctor when Greg was found had
always had a crush on Greg even after he married so she never married. The
Hunter had a crush on her. She was always nice to him, but never had an
interest in him. His anger boiled up in him for years.
Greg went hunting and the friend saw him get in his truck.
He followed him. Greg took his time, so he was able to get ahead of him on the
trail and in a moment, he could never explain turned and shot Greg three times.
Instantly he regretted it. He was not a bad person, he just had a bad moment.
And that is how he was there to take Greg to the hospital. Running down the
trail with Greg over his shoulder he had no idea of everyone else in the woods
looking for Greg. Paul’s group had fired from a great distance. They had scoped
out the area and were timing Greg’s pace and were just about correct and might
have hit him if he hadn’t been shot already. They were professionals, yet they
needed to know if they hit him, so they could cover their tracks. After they
attempted their shots they realized someone else was with Greg, not knowing it
was the person that shot him, so their planning was thrown off. They did not
look for the Russian agent and made the mistake of not cleaning up fearing they
may have been seen. They split up and met back at the hotel, then the one group
made the botched attempt to go to the hospital.
Daniel knew of the nurse. Everyone did. She lived for Greg
and Greg was never interested in her. Just one of those things. He was
dumbfounded to find out the hunter had such a crush on the nurse. The huner
never told anyone. He wasn’t married, yet Daniel never really knew him as an
adult so never thought much of him. He understood now, that the nurse would
live unrequited love and so would this friend.
Sheriff Daniel played Judge and Jury and told him to leave
town and to never come back. He didn’t threaten this, he suggested it. It is
better for all involved if he would start a new life even though in his fifties
like them all, somewhere else. He agreed and went home to pack. He left town
within the week. The nurse only briefly thought about him over the years
wondering what happened to an old friend, but nothing more.
Jill went to her grave with this one piece of knowledge
evading her. She watched the world piece itself back together and knew where
all the pieces lay, but never knew that a man had shot and then saved Greg’s
life, nor who.
Greg went back to DC and served two more terms. He retired.
Sandra was happy, truly happy.
Samuel and Daniel would talk about the hunter on occasion since
Daniel had to tell someone what he knew. Other than that life was good in their
neck of the woods.
The nurse never married. She died alone never knowing one
man did love her.
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