by Travis Mateer

Here is this week’s review of local headlines, I hope you enjoy. One thing I’ve been trying to avoid is the use of a certain word when recording these episodes, but I haven’t explained WHY. Well, here’s a little piece of micro-fiction I wrote this weekend for a local zine that might give you an interesting and totally fictional perspective.

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A knock interrupts the cloaked engineer as he hunches over the final preparations. Annoyed, he turns to look over his shoulder before barking a quick command: “ENTER!”

“Has the chamber beneath the chamber reached completion? Council is demanding an update.” 

The mouse-man is the Placeholder’s intern and he squeaks the words more than speaks them.

“Yes, the coven has sealed the inner sanctum and given the spirit-yeast its final incantation. Now, every time the target word is spoken above, in the official Council chambers, the vibration will activate the nano-fibers and feed the material below until the essence of our leader solidifies to rejoin us here, in this realm.”

“Excellent, Gwanita will be most pleased! Do we need to transmit an internal memo so the faithful ones within his holy municipality know what the target word is?”

The engineer pauses, then cackles as he relishes the brilliance of his plan. “That won’t be necessary,” he tells the mouse-man, “because the target word is the most popular f-word currently used by anyone who chooses to enter the chambers.

Another pause stretches out as the intern blinks in oblivious anticipation. The engineer basks in the moment, then utters the word that will regenerate their GREAT LEADER to solidity:

“FOLKS! That is the word, Brendn. Now, go put the faithful ones at ease with the assurance that every utterance brings his sweet form closer to earthly existence once more. Then, we shall regain control of Zoom Town!

The intern emits a grateful sigh. “Thank you, engineer, I will go tell Council immediately!”

And with that, the interruption ceases, allowing the engineer to return to his most important work.