Skyward - (NaNoWriMo 2013 Novel)

The Miraculous Shrinking Mayor - (Nov 20, Wednesday)

There was a legend from right around the time that control of the Core finally shifted from the municipality to the Corps, and it told of the miraculous Shrinking Mayor.

It began when the man ran afoul of the chief of police. The chief had come to the mayor, asking for what he always did: money enough to protect the city, to support social programs that might curb youth violence and gang growth, money enough for new hires and long-overdue promotions.

But the Mayor, for his part, didn't see it that way. He'd ridden into office on a ticket all about fiscal responsibility, vowing to end the "gravy train", as he called it, of municipal politics. He was in the second half of his term, was looking to an election, and it had been some time since he'd last rang his "gravy train" gong. He was looking for victories, and he thought that there may be one to be found in the story of an overfunded and inefficient police force.

So, when the chief came to the Mayor, asking for the same that he always did, the mayor said no. In fact, he told the chief, you're going to be getting a little less this year than you did last, and when it comes to next year, you will get littler still. So it's time to tighten up the old belt, good buddy; time to trim some fat and get lean.

The mayor said this from a broad, soft chair that strained under his hulking frame when he leaned back, chins a waggling.

The chief stood silent, as he most often did, staring down in the mayor's tiny eyes, and the chill in the chief's made the mayor stop and think for the first time, that maybe this wasn't the man to cross; maybe he should have found the fiscal savings he wanted to laud elsewhere. However, before the sinking thought can come to words, the chief curtly says "I understand" and stands at ease, adjusting his uniform. The mayor hoisted his bulk from his chair to receive the symbolic salute that they usually exchange, looking down as he. did it at his own hands bracing on his desktop. When his eyes come up, they find the chief already exiting through the far door, the door closing to behind him. The mayor hangs for an instant, standing, eyes on that far door, and a far off concern registered in his mind. But by the time he returns to his chair, he's already forgetting it.

The Chief did not. That very day he went to his chief investigator and green lit an investigation that they had been sitting on for some time, into

* * *

The mayor's brother kept him alive, but even he never saw the man. He'd bring him food, but the mayor never wanted to look at him, would always be in the ensuite washroom, or staring out a far window with his back to his brother. The brother didn't care much. His priah former-mayor of a brother, and the way that he continued to support his brother in his stubborn madness was the perfect sympathetic capital he needed for his political ambitions.

No one knew what the mayor was doing in that office, and they didn't care. He was out of their hair; ruling over a hundred square foot kingdom that had been fully sectioned off from the Core.

When they finally moved the municipal office into one of the freshly-completed 'Dos and abandonned city hall, they cleared everyone out but left the hermit mayor to his office.

When he eventually burst from those doors, there were only two people to see him: a dedicated reporter who had lost family and friends in her near-constant vigil outside the mayor's office, and a man who was the mayor's very last supporter.

Both of these witnesses should have known him well from years of dedication to the man, but neither recognized him. The man was lean, with broad shoulders, and a square jaw. His eyes were large, alert, and ice blue, sunk in their sockets.

# # #

Well, yesterday I had a spectacular headache to blame for a lack of progress. Today I have little to blame but a focus on sorting through some photos from a shoot on the weekend. At this point it's looking like I'm going to have to pull off some serious write-in time to get everything back up to speed :/

As for the content of this part, this is, of course, loosely inspired by a matter that is currently going down in Toronto, which people elsewhere MIGHT have heard of. It's something I wanted to try writing separately, but I thought I could make it fit into Skyward...though it's not actually done in its current incarnation. Maybe I'll try to write more of it tomorrow...