You are going on a trip through Texas. You have no particular destination in mind, but you will be traveling from city to town in random directions. The first place you arrive at is Harlingen. The town is empty, the silence like a cloud pressing down on you. There's not a soul to be seen, young, old, children, cops, firemen, shopkeepers, all gone. You're on the road again, traveling, and you stop in Laredo, to find the same, not even a hitchhiker passing through, just emptiness, and silence, broken only by the soft moan of the wind. Lubbock, Odessa, and San Angelo are the same. A small tendril of fear begins growing within you, starting to wrap itself around your heart. "This cannot be", you think, as you get back on the road, to travel again in random directions. Sweetwater and Abilene, both empty. Brownsville and Waco, the playground swings still and unmoving, the schools holding only dusty textbooks. Amarillo and Texarkana, traffic lights flashing red, yellow, green, but no traffic moves, the car, trucks, and buses are stilled, with neither driver nor passengers. Denison and Beaumont, automatic sprinklers watering bank greenery, fountains gushing water that creates a rainbow in the air, a dandelion growing through a crack in the sidewalk, with no ones hand to stop it.
Are you going crazy? "One last stop", you think, "the VA hospital in Big Spring. I may need mental help." But, when you get there, Big Spring is empty, too. At the VA hospital, you find a group of frightened people in the parking lot, doctors, nurses, staff, patients, and you. A quick count reveals that there are 327 souls in Big Spring, a town with a population of 23,093 people. You speak to the others, but no one knows how many are gone, or why, or where they went. Fear is evident, as people wonder will more disappear. Suddenly, standing among you is a soldier, in Revolutionary War dress. "Want to know how many's gone?", he says. "Why, one million, two hundred and one thousand, and sixty one. They'll only be gone for a day. I took the same amount from everywhere. Some states, like Alaska, I had to combine with others. Some states, like California, it was easy to get my totals. You see, that's how many died. Oh, you called them police actions, or intervention or other names, but they was all wars, and good men died. Most folks, it's just a day off from work, go do things with the kids, work around the house, maybe picnic. I thought I'd remind you we were there, in the ground, so maybe some of you would come visit our graves and say thank you. The folks I took will be back tomorrow, but the soldiers like me, we won't be back. So maybe a thanks for a job well done wouldn't hurt. After all, we're in the ground cause we wanted you to get, and keep, your freedom. Least you could do is say thanks." As he finished speaking, he faded away, until nothing remained but the echo of his words and the knowledge that today is Memorial Day.
If you have the chance, May 29th, go tell a soldier thanks. They're in cemeteries all around you.
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When they try to take away my 2nd Amendment rights, tell them Hell's comin' and I'm comin' with it! Armed and Dangerous
Are you going crazy? "One last stop", you think, "the VA hospital in Big Spring. I may need mental help." But, when you get there, Big Spring is empty, too. At the VA hospital, you find a group of frightened people in the parking lot, doctors, nurses, staff, patients, and you. A quick count reveals that there are 327 souls in Big Spring, a town with a population of 23,093 people. You speak to the others, but no one knows how many are gone, or why, or where they went. Fear is evident, as people wonder will more disappear. Suddenly, standing among you is a soldier, in Revolutionary War dress. "Want to know how many's gone?", he says. "Why, one million, two hundred and one thousand, and sixty one. They'll only be gone for a day. I took the same amount from everywhere. Some states, like Alaska, I had to combine with others. Some states, like California, it was easy to get my totals. You see, that's how many died. Oh, you called them police actions, or intervention or other names, but they was all wars, and good men died. Most folks, it's just a day off from work, go do things with the kids, work around the house, maybe picnic. I thought I'd remind you we were there, in the ground, so maybe some of you would come visit our graves and say thank you. The folks I took will be back tomorrow, but the soldiers like me, we won't be back. So maybe a thanks for a job well done wouldn't hurt. After all, we're in the ground cause we wanted you to get, and keep, your freedom. Least you could do is say thanks." As he finished speaking, he faded away, until nothing remained but the echo of his words and the knowledge that today is Memorial Day.
If you have the chance, May 29th, go tell a soldier thanks. They're in cemeteries all around you.
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When they try to take away my 2nd Amendment rights, tell them Hell's comin' and I'm comin' with it! Armed and Dangerous
, Art