The Gods of Parliament (Short Story 11th of October 2010)

In the hallowed halls of parliament, standing amidst his cabinet, the Prime Minister started his speech nervously, “We are proud of our country, of the recent reforms which have triggered an insatiable appetite in foreign investors. Investments are pouring in; this is our time, with a more promising future on the horizon.”

As soon as the word “future” was uttered, the walls of the building started to shake; thinking it was a mild earthquake, the PM paused till it passed, and then continued his prepared speech “The future is ahead of us, our youth are getting employed, and the quality of life is improving……..”

The session was over, and the Members of Parliament filed out of the building after listening to the entire speech. The hall became empty.

Inside the hall, a voice emanating from the parliament’s dome;

Why were you shaking?

We were shaking in fear

In fear, of whom?

In fear of the gods of parliament

Why fear the gods now?

The gods of parliament are un-satisfied; they can not bear any more lies in this house.

Has this not been the house of lies since its creation?

Lies in themselves are not a sin. The lie is a means to an end, and sometimes the end justified the means

Then, what brought on their wrath this time?

The lies they heard here were a means to a malevolent end. They saw justice withheld, and bad blood

They saw lies said without confrontation

They saw a weakening power of speech and a rise in the power of flatterers and the unworthy

The president’s chair was silent for the entire conversation between the furniture and the dome

And all of a sudden, facing the lights of the dome to complain to the gods, the president’s chair spoke:

We the furniture of parliament demand from your highnesses to withdraw us from a place that has forgotten why it was created

We the furniture of parliament state in regret that this parliament that started with a struggle to limit the powers of the monarchy is currently extending and blessing this monarchy

We the furniture of this parliament admit our helplessness and inability to redeem the polluted justice

We the furniture of this parliament are incapable of holding the curse or solving the riddles

We were born to be pieces of furniture, and we never complained

And there were always others to hear and see and say

And in their power of speech, we were able to survive

Please take us from here

In a split second the parliament exploded, and fire flames covered the entire place, with the exception of the dome, which the gods left

The gods left the dome in hope that one day people would remember why the parliament was created.

The dome is the only one that is destined to stay, and is the only hope that remains.