ALTERNATIVE FACTS

A Serious Matter

Now is the time to act

Where the gathering took place (photo by the author).

The cabinet came together for an urgent meeting. An emergency had called the ministers back from their holiday retreats. Something never heard of in the best country in the history of the universe and beyond.

Of course, the world is a challenging place. Of course, storms and tempests, drought, and scorching sun lashed the country. Not a light matter, but if you ask me, the world is always in turmoil; storms and tempests are scourges of all times, and what’s wrong with a little sunshine? Nevertheless, an important issue needed an urgent and resolute response.

Journalists, flocking outside the gate, shouted their questions at the secretaries that arrived one by one. No excellency dignified himself to even mumble an answer. Bad weather on their faces. A short cordial wave was all the journalists could get, then the dignitaries hurried inside. The gravity of the situation pushed like a dead weight on their shoulders.

Entering the lobby, they barely mustered a faint smile to thank the staff who had been rushed in. In the hexagonal room the colleagues weren’t happily chitchatting about their holiday experiences as normally would have been the case. Nobody talked about it or showed any pictures.