Furor

The mayor of the town of Justen was old.  Older then all the settlers.  He was in his late fifties but looked much older.  He had gray hair sparking from the side of his head but the middle of his scalp was completely smooth.  Michael didn’t try to comb it over like he used to before he won the election 12 years ago.  He has given up on all of his morning routines, late night rituals to look the best he could.  When he won the election, the one he was fighting for 6 years to the former mayor, he lost all the motivation that is brought with the territory of politicians.  He needed to look like he cared about his position but no one wants to elect a glamour queen.  You need to look normal like an every day citizen to win these sorts of ballots.  In a small town like Justen, the mayor is a bona fide celebrity for his first years.  Parades are extravagant and everywhere the mayor goes, the town follows.  It’s when you put all your purpose into making the town you once loved better.  All of his policies, to lower taxes and bring jobs all went into effect immediately into obtaining office.  It takes some time for these things to actually show any proof but once it did, a year after signing the bills, the rest of your mayorship is just watching the experiment take flight.  Most of the citizens were on board because who wouldn’t be.  Lower taxes meant that they got more money from their personal paychecks and more jobs meant that their family could easily expand into the rural life they have always known.

    Michael just studied his policies.  The first year went off with a bang.  The more jobs in the town of Justen meant that their was more money that they could be making off the small shops that employed them.  It’s simple algebra.  Year after year it kept going and soon the taxes where as low as they possibly could be.  But the town was changing slightly.  Once this sort of evidence is leaked into the surrounding societies, either their mayors are going to look at Michael’s plan and try it out or the newly un-employed workers are going to uproot their families heritage and reside in this paradise.  Justen was becoming an epicenter of the rurality.  The town started to grow slowly.  It would of grown any ways even if the news didn’t spread through the mouths of farmers and tradesmen because their families wouldn’t look outside of their boundaries.  If the place you live is good enough then you’ll stick to it.  It’s like ants living in the same colonies for hundreds of years.  But the news spread like peanut butter and Justen wasn’t just taking the strangers from other towns but actually giving them incentives.
    Michael was getting bored behind his desk.  There was nothing left to do in such a small town.  The mayor’s affairs only consisted of him getting up, getting dressed in his blue three piece suit and heading to his office where he sat and waited.  His plan was rolling smoothly and everyone in the town was extraordinarily happy.   Small towns don’t have much political gain to apprehend too so not only could he do whatever he wanted but the freedom severely restrained you.  In these parts, the people are subjectively conservative.  The only change they want it for them to have families and for the local government to do positive rather then negative.  Also they wanted to stay hidden.  Michael after four years into his election, after running un-opposed for his second term, wanted to add to his policy without ruining what was already there.  He started giving some of the money that the town was making, just pooling in their treasury, to newcomers.  If you came from a neighboring village or even a far away state then you would get a tax break of 1% for up to 5 years depending on your growth.  This was met with much praise from the neighboring citizens that it felt like they had a surge of new settlers in a matter of days. 
    The new bloomers as they were referred to in the local newspaper “Justen Time” were from many different backgrounds and wouldn't be able to be put into a categorized list if we all tried.  There was low class cleaners to middle class drivers.  All bringing their immediate families to take part in the freedom of their money.  Not only was the low class easily making it by but Justen basically changed the outlook on societal wages.  It was hard to tell what standing you had in the caste because it seemed like everyone had what they wanted.  The only time you could possibly tell was if you walked in on them working.  It felt like the gold rush.  Some people were coming from the east, 1500 miles, just to give themselves a chance in this so called “utopia.”  Due to the widespread localization and passive carnage that was ensuing in a once small town, publicity was rising like the sun in June.  All of the network news stations did at least one bit on them and some even came and shot.  Michael was never ready for these interviews.  The plan wasn’t crazy like they all made it sound.  The plan wasn’t complex it was just simple wants and needs of the citizens in his town.  Even though they were praising him they made Michael seem stupid. 
    Michael was a local boy, born and raised in Justen.  The only time he left is when he went to college up north.  He didn’t like to travel, didn’t spend his time doing wasteful activities, and liked making a difference.  He was proud when he came back to Justen after graduating.  He then started working his way up the ladder.  School boards, County boards, anything he could get on to make his case known.  There was change to be had in these rural areas.  We shouldn’t be worrying about ourselves in these economical times but we should be worried about our continuous development as a small town.  Cities had to many people to constantly change and try out new ideas.  It takes at least years to even get an idea on paper through all the stacks of legislation and seniority and the strive for money.  Small towns would be able to radically change politically and economically without affecting the citizens that personalize the area.  As he leap frogged from position to position, when he hit his forties he finally realized it was time.  He was known in a population of 4,000 at the time and he has made minor changes to the school system and seemed to be all about the people.  He thought a politician wasn’t the idea man but was a partisan for their area.  Even if he believed a policy should be done differently he would act on the best judgement of his townsfolk. 
    He didn’t make the first campaign.  He was eaten alive because the former mayor was in his position for sixteen years. Once you have that many years under your belt, it’s pretty much trying to push down a brick wall by yourself.  The only way you could possibly get elected when a mayor has that many years is through scandal or age.  Good thing he hit a ripe age of 64 and retired because it would of taken some money to oust the giant of Liam Rufertur.  Michael knew that he was retiring so he made sure to make his voice known throughout the community.  He would show up to all the events.  Weddings, store openings, closures.  Anything for his face to be seen.  But he knew since Liam was retiring that other people would try to run for mayor as well.  Michael knew his policies would stand out because they were practically socialist.  The problem with socialism is that everyone wants it but it has properly been painted as the wrong decision for us.  If we could change one of the big three problems society, economy and politics then the other two will follow.  Politics has a hold on economy, economy has a control over society, society has a hold on politics.  Michael knew if his tax plan went through it would trickle down and efficiently provide for his community.  He called his plan “The New Democracy.”
    The town kept growing exponentially.  As more people surged in, no matter here background, the personality of the town kept on fading away.  No one really noticed it but Michael.  Justen was becoming a city and even though his plan was still working, it wasn’t worth losing the sanctity of the small town.  The population was nearing 45,000 which was nearly ten times the amount they had before he took office.  He knew he was responsible for it.  Even though the small businesses were still around, the look of the town was turning very corporate.  All of the big firms looked at this sudden growth and instinctively tried to monopolize on it.  They put as much effort into it as they would if it was a dying country.  If the corporate's kept invading his town then everything that used to feel so normal and ageless would eventually turn to dust.  This city would be like all the other cities.  Economy would take over like it has in any city around the world  Even if no one recognized it, Michael didn’t care.  All he knew is he would have to change it immediately.  He would need to stop this infestation but without disturbing his plan.  His plan is what got him into office but if he sabotaged it then Justen would be like all the other corrupt, politically run towns that are all over.  Either he had to sit and watch the area beneath him crumble into modernism or he would have to be crucified for his actions even though everything was still working perfectly.
    It was mind boggling trying to do this all on his own.  He didn’t have a knack to ask for outside help because then his worries would be known.  Michael didn’t want to be ousted for his irrational opinions on the experiment he set up.  But the people were still trickling in.  His age was becoming a problem as well.  A Mayor could easily ride this term out until he was purposefully dead.  The townsfolk through their ignorance and pride could never not elect Michael just out of generosity.  His plan probably made them the happiest and richest they could ever be but Michael was wondering if that really mattered in his office.  He know just stared at the blank walls surrounding him.  He tore off all the nostalgic memories of old town pictures and aerial views.  They were stored in a box in his closet.  He wanted to get revenge against himself.  Every time he went outside, the citizens of Justen, would bombard him with compliments like he was a priest.  This confused him because he thought if they only knew the wreckage he was doing slowly to their sanctuary that they would probably dismember him. This vengeance against himself and the paranoia that a reporter or intellectual might be able to predict the shape of the town in a decade left him in his office.  He didn’t have a family to go home to, no one for support after his parents died twenty five years ago, so he just stayed at the office and hollowed out his pain with boredom. 
    Even though he could do nothing to prevent his re-election that was coming up next year, He was working, busily, to try and find a way out.  It was a difficult task do to his morality.  Other mayors have done it in the past by being corrupt or by doing something scandalous like purchasing drugs or being caught cheating on their wives.  It was nothing new but he didn’t want to take their route.  He needed a way to escape positively.  Maybe a distant relative will become sick so he could uphold my duties to a stand in and rehabilitate them while hiding his joy. That was impossible because he never stayed connected to his family.  Some politicians use family ties to win an election or still profit off their campaigning but Michael was all about doing things right.  Every outcome that Michael ran through his mind always seemed to end wrong so he started praying that the running mate would win against him.  he has already done enough to the town to demolish it further so he couldn’t possibly try to just to leave.  What to do what to do is all he thought during the day and at night he got a little more devilish.  The loneliness started to sink in when he realized that keeping it all in his head wasn’t consciously healthy. It was if a disease was eating him the inside out.  It was like he couldn’t come up with the answer to his own questions.  It was if he was clueless towards his own actions.
    He got  the idea from himself.  Obviously he was going crazy but how could he prove his insanity.  He would need someone else to see it too.  A doctor or therapist would probably actually take tests on his cognition and reasoning.  He was doomed because he knew they would find nothing severe and wouldn’t diagnose him with anything that would help him leave unharmed.  He thought he could just retire but he wasn’t really at the age to do this without someone turning a suspicious eye.  No one wants them to be watched after retirement when relaxation is supposed to be key.  Isn’t he relaxing now though in his office just watching the cars drive by his office.  They looked like they were in a rush.  Michael noticed everyone always drove over the speed limit now because this was the city.  Everyone was in a rush to go somewhere.  To find themselves.  They were stuck in their lives that he displayed for them.  What was he thinking when he designed his plan?  That people would be able to live happily working.   That was a cruel joke that he obviously misunderstood and didn’t think about properly.  He watched the ants just work and work as he sat and sat.  And thought.
        Election was getting closer and closer and he was still absent of a plan.  The town grew another ten thousand by last year.  Justen kept swallowing up more and more area and stealing from the neighboring villages.  They didn’t even care either.  No one cared if they weren’t bothered but at least if he was authoritative they would listen.  But since everything was running smoothly and the citizens were happy they never thought differently.  The faces all looked the same to him and Michael couldn’t tell the difference between the local lineage to the new heritages.  The people were all the same.  Happy and gullible.  Maybe he should just burn out in flames like he imagined in his dreams.  Just tell the people what he thought of his plan and poke fun at their ignorance but they were happy.  And he wasn’t.  Why should he be the one to break the news to them?  Michael was probably the idiot for over thinking his claims.  For not trusting his better judgement.  He decided just to end it that night.  The election day was right around the corner, no more then a week away, and he still couldn’t come up with an idea.  He took a rope and looped it around itself and fitted a hole for his head.  This had to be the only way.  It’s how everyone got rid of their troubles.  One trouble could lead you to forget all the positives.  Life was full of obstacles that he could hurdle over.  He put his head in the noose and thought he could paint himself being suicidal but the towns people would want answers.  They would want to know why he would do it.  And if he did it they would be left with an unsolved mystery.  Michael just sucked in his gut and accepted the inevitable.  He ran unopposed and won.  He will just have to ride this out like a dictatorship hoping death will reach him naturally if he kept thinking about it.