Book Intrigue... Can I Do It?

He stared in the rear view, still making sure he was alone. He didn't feel alone, but no headlights in the dimming evening light reassured him to not trust his gut. He checked the mirror again and accelerated. The road had been swinging left and right, and rolling cresting over wave after wave in the near countryside. The trees were starting to lessen and he didn't seem to have the same comfort as city driving as his diversity of exits had turned to two; straight ahead or back.

He rolled down the window and felt the cool air playfully frolic with his hair. He adjusted the mirror in an attempt to relax. He couldn't. His heart had been pounding through his ears and even cut out the REM that was pool-hall music loud. He sat back a little as he came over the hill, exposing the entire horizon. It was magnificent he thought, but couldn't concentrate on the idea. He had far too much to think about after the events that had only happened that morning.

He could still smell the blood. The gun powder still sweetly stinging his nostrils. He un-buttoned the top button just behind his tie which he had still yet to loosen. He knew he'd have to stop and get gas soon, but didn't want to. He was headed north, not to anywhere in particular, but hopefully somewhere quiet. Somewhere to collect his thoughts and consider his options.

He unbuckled and unholstered his sidearm. It was lighter than it's normal security of weight, but he wasn't sure how many rounds he had fired from it. A fog in his memory he had never felt before. He placed it on the dash and pulled his tie with a quick smooth motion, unraveling it perfectly limp into his hand. He tossed it towards the backseat and began to wonder how long it had been since he started driving. He had barely moved and was finally starting to regain some composure. He checked the rear view mirror again.

This time he feared his luck had run out.

Perfectly Painted Drive

The drive had been more beautiful than the other thousand times he had driven it. The air had been cooling down and fall had phoned and was on it's way. The trees were still green, all but a few. The road's wind and swell was more moving than it have ever been. Or that he'd ever noticed at least. The windows weren't down, but begged to be. The music soft and more than majestic. Perhaps Copland or Bach but no real distinction. More like looking at a page of too small print, the letters, the words not jumping out or off the page, but appearing as an imperfect blob of black.

Reality had escaped to surrealism and he was happily lost in it. The sun setting on the horizon, finding a perfect spot to cozy down between the trees. Using the mirror of the lake to display it's beautiful sleeping tradition. Settling in around it all the colors of the suns best friends. The artist and his clouds. His pallet must have been full of every color, not sparing a single ounce of effort or beauty for another sunset. Some clouds manicured to perfection by the greatest cake designers. Others to imperfection by the clumsy touch of amateurs.

He continued to stream down the road, all worries a minute behind. The metal guard rails had turned to wooden ones, and then finally disappeared. That uplifting feeling kept hitting him bluntly and with the same relief and tranquility of the woods. The sun chose it's moments and continued to wink through the trees. He could see the fog rolling in on the bridge over the lake ahead. It's entrance guarded by tall trees, reaching their arms wide and far to obscure the entrance. The view came more quickly than anticipated, and was gone even quicker. The sun displayed itself in all of it's glory. He took a deep breath but couldn't regain all that had been taken from him. The relief of the fog, the swell of the music, the whole picture directly perfectly and with seamless transition.

Life's circle had just been full, but only for that second. The music died down, and went from one symphony to another. The bridge disappeared in the rear view mirror, and too closely paralleled life's cycle for the him. He focused on the shift of the car, the hum of the tires and the running road ahead and his role in catching it. He looked toward the next curve, the unknown, the possible. He desired it more, the idea of better. The geese accompanied him, a new wing man, shadowing the car now in the near absence of the suns rays, as it had finally retired it's playful game. He turned the knob and allowed the melody to envelop him. He pressed the gas a little harder and his hands followed suit, tight around the wheel. He was unsure of the reality of it all.  Was it all a dream? If it was, he did not want to believe it. The squeezing of his vision gripped tighter as he gazed forward, the future, the excitement of the endless pursuit of the road in front. He looked again for the sun. It had vanished. It's cat and mouse game with him was finally over.

The speed increased. His breath steadied. Focused on the perfection in the imperfect world, the driver behind the wheel smiled.

Civility, Our Final Stand

I no longer feel all alone. Rutgers New York of all places has joined me on this bus that seems to be going nowhere. HLN even reported it. Comforting and warm, like the light on is all it feels like. Civility they call it. Squelching the fires of rudeness, which has all too recently been scorching the earth, humanity.

Today, sitting in the barber chair, a now stronger tradition on Sunday's than Church, or even Football, I saw the awe-striking developments with my beloved Robin Meade. Apparently I'm not the only one who has not just noticed the rapid decline of how we treat each other in public, but I'm not the only one who cares to do something about it. Rutgers University is implementing a program to help people become more aware of their actions. Decrease their rudeness and help at least a small section of this world return to grandeur days of compassion and consideration of those who surround us, ie. you and I.

The idea that we can return to a more civil society is certainly daunting. In recent years, with technology and convenience having such an effect on a day to day lifestyles, it's hard to imagine putting any effort into being kinder and more caring for one another, let alone strangers, and even with the possibility of actually helping one another out. It's certainly not a popular idea.

Shows on television that the youth of our nation watch so emphatically whether to live by or make fun of still have such an irrefutable effect on the way we view acceptable across society. We have so called "icons" who are nothing but detrimental to society and feel like no rules apply to them based on our praise and their holiness because of that. The Jersey Shore crew, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan. These are individuals that should not even be considered people. They give nothing to society. They have no positive affluence on the way Americans should live their lives. And yet, we praise and prod and encourage this kind of behavior. Some even live to be exactly the same.

To stop this cascading, rolling, picking up steam, time bomb, avalanche is not going to be easy. It's hard to imagine and I doubt very highly that we've allowed that many stupid people, that verge of idiocracy to creep so heavily into the lead train of thought for our nation. I know that's not the majority of how people think or want to act, or even treat others. But the majority is silent and bending, and willing to let the minority groups benefit as a whole, willing to suffer for the better of the few than the better of the many. California is getting rid of metal baseball bats in High School Baseball because of one instance where a kid was killed by a line drive.

Our fore-fathers are rolling in their graves. We created a society, a government that was for the people. The majority of people. Not to make a rule for every exception, to protect every single person, but to protect what is best for everybody. If we stopped doing things, made it illegal, mitigated all the risks in everything that you could do that you could possibly die doing; what could you do? Live in a plastic bubble that never moved.

So how do you reverse the flux? How do you get the water back in the tank, stop the flush. Society is headed for a terrible demise in this country if we don't start doing something now. Eliminate the extremists on both the left and the right could considerably help. The tea party'ers, the Koran burners, the soccer moms, and liberals? As nice as it would be to Lord of the Flies them onto an island, we have to use more ethical means of extermination. Make the voice of the many what it should always be. Loud. Call shotgun, and driver too. Get out of the backseat and be heard. We let the voice of the few out ring the voice of the many.

It's time to start singing.