Morning all. Have you ever been so deeply asleep when you alarm goes off that waking feels a bit like pulling yourself out of deep mud? I felt like I had to surface out of some deep and viscus pond to reach wakefulness. I’m here, but I feel vaguely surprised to be here. But here I am so, let’s get started on the morning prompt, shall we? Timer’s set and in we go.
I think the other candidate is going to have some sort of supernatural powers. I just need to figure out what he gains from it, why Mike might have partial immunity and the ultimate throw down. I think this might be a fun story to write actually.
Wednesday, June 29th: The challenge was unexpected.
The challenge was unexpected. He thought that he was running unopposed. Mike’s plan for the debate were a short speech. He planned to list a few of the things he hoped to get accomplished during his term and then open the floor for questions. He hadn’t prepared for an actual debate.
He peered around the moderator to study his rival. It did not look good. While he had a notebook with a few thoughts jotted down for reference, his opponent had a stack of note cards. He also had too assistants with him, each dressed in sober suits and carrying additional papers. Mike couldn’t begin to guess what was on the pages but fel his palms began to sweat anyway. The assistants both wore glasses. The glassed caught the overhead lights and reflected it back making them look like they wore coins over their eyes. Given their extremely pale skin Mike was forcibly reminded of a children’s book he had been given when he was small. He doubted it was designed for small children and the drawings as well as the stories within had given him nightmares for weeks. One of the stories involved people being sent down to Hades and having to pay the ferryman. There were depictions of corpses laid out with their fare on their eyes and drawings of them successfully paying the ferryman. There were also rivers of bodies underneath the boat comprised of those who hadn’t paid the fare.
The assistants reminded him of those drawings. The looked like a combination of the two actually. People who had been given the fare but been too stingy to turn it over to pay for their ride. Mike fought down a shiver and looked back to his opponent. There was nothing corpse like about him, if anything he seemed too full of life, as though he drained his associates before stepping on the stage. He fairly burst with vitality. He had a hard time containing himself and kept bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was handsome, in a generic kind of way. He had regular features and thick wavy blonde hair. It wasn’t wavy enough to fall into curls but it was wavy enough that it didn’t fall limply down over his ears as Mike’s often did if he forgot to have it trimmed. His blue eyes were piercing with the edges looking less like crow’s feet and more like he might crinkle with laughter at any moment.
Mike felt a sense of dread.
He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or upset when he was told to go first. He had no idea who his opponent was let alone what he stood for, so mike stuck close to his script. He shifted the language to reflect that of a hopeful candidate rather than an unopposed one. He finished his spiel and felt pleased with it. He got his main points off clearly and concisely and used the time allotted to him well. In the audience he even saw a few heads nodding in agreement.
And best of all it was over. He dealt well with the unexpected. Along with everyone else he waited for his opponent to step forward. The moderator turned over the floor and stepped aside. Within seconds Mike knew any chance he had of winning the election was gone. Rich warm tones flowed out of his opponent and the audience seemed to mesmerized. Mike too felt himself falling into a bit of a trance. He shook himself and found he couldn’t remember a word the man said.
Ten til Midnight 