A to Z story, political satire, perspective |
Zero Hour Along the shore, devastation lay everywhere. Beaches and clear water no longer existed at this vacation hot spot and there was no lifeguard standing on duty. Children and adults were not at this beach or any other beach today and it would be awhile before anyone would feel safe at one again. Due to the instigation of an unreasonable demand upon the populace and thronging beachgoers, public places were now dangerous places to occupy. Execution of an unknown law that disallowed visible minorities on public beaches equaled punishment against minorities of all kinds. Fairness or rather the lack of it was a reoccurring issue in society. Groups, identified as acceptable and normal, received special privileges while other interest groups received nothing. How a group was held higher in esteem and what criteria were behind their selection was the topic of a select few conversations. Individuals did not dare speak out against even the most blatant of issues no matter how ludicrous they seemed. Justice ignored any issue that was unknown by the public and Justice knowingly discriminated in issues such as bilingual signage, taxes, gun control, treaty land provisions and resource usage. Killing off cultural activities and traditions that did not favour the trolls was increasing exponentially. Lawyers, when challenged, were somehow able to manipulate any legal findings in the favour of the majority, the trolls. Most schools taught that dragons were native to the land but the trolls had explored and discovered this country. Neglect was obvious, as a minority, dragons were unable to give enough opposition to even the simplest of issues. Over the course of one hundred and thirty nine years, job requirements changed and predominantly favored trolls over dragons. Prejudice against large cave-dwelling dragons who kept their gold where society couldn’t touch it or use it to further discriminate against dragons was rampant to the extent that educational requirements made all questions on job applications, housing grants, and financial assistance and other forms relatively more like gobbledygook than Dragonese to even the most intelligent dragon. Quid pro quo seemed like the solution to displaced dragons as they were pushed further and further into the hills by the multitudes, but most forms of compensation benefited the trolls instead. Rapid increases in poverty; drug abuse and alcoholism dogged the once proud dragon race. Several minority groups banded unsuccessfully together to fight the system. The irony of it all, is that the visible minority kept trying to fit in, doing the right thing usually without appreciation from others by taking poorly paid jobs and moving to isolated locations. Uttering anything against the government in public would cause a backlash that further demoralized dragons. Vituperation often lay hidden in news articles, jokes, and satires. White-washing every aspect of their dragon lives to become like everyone else went against all the moral traditions that had stood hundreds of years before the troll settlers had conquered the land. Xenophobes felt safe and confident in their right-seeming ways while the dragon youths, taught the ignobleness of their kind came to identify themselves increasingly with the popular troll culture. Youths did not fully realize what they had lost; they only saw that being a troll was better than being a dragon. Zero hour, the time for zealous patriots to stand up and torch a beach or a house or two to ensure their flames weren’t put out and their way of life obliterated, was upon them. |