DragonFlight

The king looked puzzled, but not unpleased. Perhaps this was the answer. He called his most noble knight, a veteran of many battles, a trusted servant, and put him in charge of the surging smelly mound. He said unto this great warrior, “go thee unto the great reeking pile in the east, take your knights and your shovels, and give the ‘Keepers of the Smelly Mound’ the relief they need so they might once again get the putrid mound under their controlification.”

The king then told the people to be patient a while longer, that the great and noble Sir Petulance would indeed save the day, and show everyone that the smelly mound was not evil, but good. There was some consternation throughout the land, but there was also a ray of hope. One thought echoed through the hills and the dales, “if Sir Petulance can’t do it, nobody can.” The people of the Land of Liberty were suspicious, but hopeful.

The months dragged on, the smelly pile raged, and Sir Petulance did his best to control the mess. In those gatherings, both large and small, the people anxiously waited, filled with hope and expectation, and one thought, “surely now the obvious truth will become known!”

Finally the time came for Sir Petulance to consult with the king and his advisors. There was some confusion as to who would tell the people. The king wanted one of his close and trusted wazirs to share the great news. The liberals did not trust to this, and insisted that Sir Petulance himself first speak to the people. And so it was.

But the news was not what the people had expected. In spite of the reassurances that all was well, they could still smell the great reeking, smelly mound. The smell had changed slightly, but was still odorous, and though in some areas it had receded, in other places it had grown. The Keepers of the Smelly Mound had not used the respite to control the pile, and the aura of putrefaction continued to assault everyone’s noses. The people looked upon Sir Petulance and wondered, was he telling the whole truth, or was he telling them what the king wanted them to hear? Even the great knight himself admitted he didn’t know if the people would be exposed to less odor.

In spite of the ambiguity spreading throughout the land, the king raised his scepter in victory and demanded more resources from the people to drop into the stinking mound. Afraid of the scepter, but also defiant, once again “people began to gather in groups large and small, in meeting halls, and on-line, to talk about what they could do to stop what was happening and how the king and the vice-king could be called to account. And slowly but surely a wind arose, soft at first, then growing in force as it swept across the land. And if you listened very closely you could hear the wind whisper… impeach them, impeach them.”