Day 363 (Pt 4): A Story

Maria paused for a second and thought; she looked out the window and was uncertain.

John walked over to her and put his and on her shoulder. "Maria, are you okay?" He looked where she was searching and found nothing of interest. "

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Maria began speaking again. "Ya know," she steadily backed away from the window, still searching. "For a house where the president lives, you'd think that there's be even a little security." She turned back to face John and Alice. "Don't you guys think that's even a little suspicious?"

Alice walked over to her bed and sat down. "My dad told me barely anything about my mom, but I did manage to get him to tell me one story when I was a little girl." John and Maria looked at Alice with anticipation, yet Alice was perplexed. "What?"

"Aren't you going to tell us the story? I mean, only if you want to tell us the story." John stated. He walked over to Alice, sat down next to her, and placed his hand on Alice's left shoulder.

"No, dude, it's not like that." Alice moved her shoulder in a way that made John move his hand off of it. "It would just take too long, and my dad could come up here at any moment. You guys do realize how risky it was to come back in the first place, let alone sneak up here and get involved with our private lives."

Maria couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. "Sorry Alice, but you're the president's daughter: you don't even know the meaning of the word 'privacy!'" Maria walked to Alice and sat down on the other side of her. "And we knew the risks, and we accepted them. That's precisely why we decided to come up here in the first place: to take a risk, to take a chance. If it'll help you, and therefore the world, then I'm all for it."

John spoke up. "Unfortunately, same. We're right by your side, Alice, whenever you need us."

"Whatever," Alice muttered. "Anyways, the story took place a long time ago."

"When, 320 B.C.?" Maria pestered. "Give us the deets and skip nothing."

"Okay, geez! It was about 20 years ago, I think. Back then, my dad was the vice president. He wanted hands-on expirence and for his name to get out there so being in the race would be much simpler. Of course, even the vice presidents can have targets on their back."

"Ooooooh, this story just got interesting!" Maria sang.

John and Alice both immediately turned to Maria with a look that said "Was that comment really necessary?"

"Sorry, but it's not my fault she said something that turned the story from an Informational to a Thriller/Horror!"

"Ugh, anyways," Alice continued. "Even the vice presidents can have targets on their back. However, what I was trying to say was that my dad didn't, but the government really wanted to take chances. Especially since, back then, my father wasn't exactly loved by the people."

Maria exclaimed with partial sarcasm, "Wow, that's quite the shocker!"

Alice, at this point, was fed up with Maria's petty comments. "What's up with you and interrupting?!"

"Yeah, do you want us to get caught?!"

"Soh-reey! You guys know I can't help making comments!"

"And ssshh! You also can't help being too loud!"

"Cough, cough! As I was saying!" Alice declared. John and Maria's bickering was really getting on Alice's nerves. "As I was saying before I was rudely interuppeted by two whiny kids!" Finally, she thought, they shut up!

"Every day, neighbors passed day with the first thing they saw on their way to work in the morning were guards in black suits, black sunglasses, and a small flat-top hairdo. Obviously, people didn't enjoy being mad-dogged for looking at my mom's lovely rainbow rose garden.

"It came to the point where my mom was beginning to get annoyed with the guards. When she waved at her neighbors, the neighbors were scared to wave back. Rumor has it that one neighbor attempted to strike up some small talk with my mom."

"Ooh, ooh, what happened to the neighbor?"

"Don't bother, Alice. I know this part. Basically, the neighbor tried to speak, and afterward, he couldn't speak. Physically."

"Whatever, it was just a rumor." Alice waved her hand in denial. She refused to believe it was true. "Even then, whatever happened to the neighbor, my mom made sure that the guard got tenfold. Anyways, my mom proceeded to give them hell.

"She went down to the White House and talked it over with the first lady since they were best friends at the time. After endless hours of debating and arguing, they were able to convince the guards to lighten the security. Instead of threatening, armed, and dangerous guards, there were high-tech security cameras armed with rubber bullets, a loud alarm system coupled with face-recognition, and high-pressure pepper spray."

"Wait, why didn't they fire at Blyke and his army of midgets?" Maria questioned. "That would've made things a lot easier! What's the word again? Dues ex Machina! That's it!"

"Because, for their safety, my dad made sure that every single of Blyke's annoying friends were in the system. Duh."

"Oh yeah, duh. I knew that."

Again, both John and Alice shot Maria a look; this time, it said, "No you didn't."

"Alright, alright, I admit it! I didn't know that. So, it that all of it?"

"Yeah, that's it." Alice managed to hold back tears as she got up from her bed and walked over to the window to get an elegant view outside. "Eventually, when Mom left, my dad left it like this in remembrance for her."

Maria got up and nudged John to get up with her. "Not that she's dead though, right?" They walked over to Alice and joined her in looking outside. "It's a nice view outside, isn't it, especially at this time of night?

"Honestly, I don't know."

Suddenly, the door creaked open with a voice full of sorrow and regret told them only three words: "Neither do I."