O l i v e r B e n j a m i n
Part Two:
THE SECOND COMING
CHAPTER 8
Muchoman calmly surveyed the situation while munching on
popcorn. It was his opinion that the parade was a disaster waiting to
happen. There weren’t enough police, the route was clearly visible
from the surrounding buildings, making it an ideal target for snipers,
and the poorly designed floats were a danger to the crowd. Also, there
weren’t enough bathrooms, and the food was lousy. He bit down on
an unpopped kernel, and dislodged a crown from one of his rear
molars. He added unsafe popcorn to the list of liabilities.
It was so typical of the world today. No one was ever safe. Not in
their homes, not in their offices, certainly not out on the street, and
not even at a New Year’s Day parade. The float drivers were probably
still drunk from the night before.
He envisioned a day when every man, woman and child in the
world could live in peace and safety, fearing not their brethren nor
the walls they had built around themselves; walls that threatened to
come crashing down on their heads at any moment. Until that day
came, he would be the chicken wire that held those walls together.
For an hour or so, he watched the floats pass and by the grace of
God, everything went off without incident. He was just about to
wander invisibly towards the concession stands to test the safety of
some nachos when he heard a scream:
Aaaaah! Help me!
Aaaaah! Help me!
might as well have been his middle name.
He wheeled his head towards the direction of the sound, and
realized that it wasn’t coming from the crowd, but from one of the
exhibits. He espied a beautiful young blonde woman in terrible
distress due to a malfunction on her float, screaming for help. The
float depicted a giant burglar who was waving one of his gigantic
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