The Idea

Julie walks in through the open door. With her briefcase in hand.

“Hey, Dave.”

“Hey, Jules. Two visits in the same week, this guy is either getting better or worse.”

“Better? How is my visiting more showing that he is getting better?”

“You know, he could be, how do I put it? Giving you what you need.”

“You’re sick.”

“Hey I try.”

He laughs and presses a button and the other door, the glass door opens.

“You know the way.”

“Yeah, bye you sicko.”

“Bye.”

She walks down the hall. The white walls bare. The fluorescent lights make the walk almost blinding. But she’s walked this many times and her eyes easy focus. She walks up to a glass window. A chair next to it. She taps the glass. And presses the intercom button next to the window.

“Evan, it’s me Julie Rhodes. Evan, it’s time to talk again.”
The room on the other side of the window is dark. The only light is through that window. She takes her finger off the button. Buzzing is heard through the intercom.

“Julie, it has been three days. Why are you back so soon?”
His voice is ominously calm and non-threatening. But in the same way it is cold and frightening.

“Um, I just wanted to talk once more.”

Her voice sounding slightly scared. No matter how many times she visits this voice still makes her arm hair stand up.

“You can ask me anything, Julie.”

“Um, okay. Let’s start where we finished.”

She sat down in the chair.

“You were telling me again of your idea.”

“Julie, I have told you many times about my idea. Why do I have to repeat myself?”

“I just want to hear it again, that’s all.”

“No, Julie, that is not all. You have knowledge of my idea, you are searching for something. What are you searching for?”

“You tell me again of you idea and I’ll tell you what I’m searching for.”

“Fair enough.”

He takes a deep breath.

“Every day, I heard the same idiotic nonsense. The world is dying, people are killing the world, and everything is dying. Every day. People talking. Never stopping. They think they have the answer. Get rid of this or get rid of that. Well my idea is the only true idea that should be listened to and taken seriously. I tried to show them. I wrote a book, I did television programs, radio stations, the works if you will. Every one of them told me my idea was ludicrous. People talked like I was coming from some outer world. They never listened. Never once. Blow up the world. Use the bombs of atomic birth. Wipe the planet clean. The earth is safe when no one or nothing can destroy it, right Julie?”

“Yes, Evan.”

She says not really agreeing or disagreeing.

“I told you my idea now tell me what you are searching for.”

“Evan.”

Her voice hardens.

“I am suppose to decide what to do with you. The state wants absolute solitary confinement but others, like Dr. McCoy, believe you need more help.”

“Have you ever read Bradbury, Julie?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You should. He’s a terrific writer. He wrote a short story about a man who murdered his electronic devices. A brilliant man, really. Kill the things that need to be killed. A true visionary. I was born of the same intellect, I suppose.”

“Evan!”

She cuts him off and almost yells.

“You’re insane! Not only are you insane but you aren’t like that man or any man!
You blew up a department store! You are a murderer! You don’t need be let out! You need a lobotomy!”

She stands up and walks away.

“Julie, a murderer I may be to you now but when my idea happens.”

He takes a deep breath.

“A genius I will become. Everyone needs to be shown the true answer to mankind’s errors. The world needs to be restarted.”

The glass door closes.