-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is a special day, Ben. This is a day that we will all remember for a very long time. Do you now what makes this day so special?" Ben's mother shot him an expectant look, smiling beatifically. "Yes, mom," Ben said. "We learned about it in school today. This is Princess Gloria's wedding day. It will be a day of celebration for the entire Empire." "The Empire," Ben's dad repeated contemptuously. "Give me a break. And what do we have to celebrate anyway? A spoiled, snotty kid getting married, and having all her whims and wishes granted by her demented father?" "Dean, please, show some respect for the Emperor," his mom said, her voice edged with shock and despair. "Don't talk like that while Ben's listening." "It's about time he started seeing things as they are," his dad muttered. For a while his parents didn't exchange another word. They simply stood staring in silence at the night sky, the full moon flooding the landscape with its enchanting light, leaving only the brightest stars visible. Many people were out on the streets and squares of the city tonight, looking up, and without a doubt it was no different in other towns all over the Empire. Ben didn't like the silence that was building up, and decided to break it. "We were also told the Princess wanted a moonless wedding night, with the sky ablaze with stars, and the most spectacular fireworks ever produced in history, with everyone in the Empire watching and remembering it for the rest of their lives." "Yes, Ben," his mom replied, gently patting him on the shoulder. "Isn't that why we're all here, looking up? Watch attentively, my boy. You'll be proud to be a citizen of the Empire." "The Empire," Ben's dad sneered. "The Pan-American Empire, for God's sake. What was wrong with the good old United States? At least that was a country we could be proud of. Why did that mad tycoon have to buy the entire continent and expand it to the United States of North and Central America? And if that wasn't enough, change its name into the Pan-American Empire? For Christ's sake, what did we do to deserve such godawful nonsense?" "Dean, please, stop being so disrespectful towards the Emperor." "The Emperor? That screw-loose, tycoon-turned-self-appointed-Emperor, you mean? That deluded businessman with too much money for his own good and an ill-bred daughter whose silly, idiot-brained wishes must be granted at all cost? Who gave that filthy rich nutcase the right to turn our lives into his own private fairy tale anyway?" Ben's mother started sobbing. This was too much for her. Before his dad could continue, people all around pointed at the moon and a faint buzz of whispered comments and hushed conversations filled the air. No doubt the great moment was about to come. Hadn't Princess Gloria insisted on a moonless wedding night? Wasn't the Emperor known for granting his daughter's every wish? An awed silence returned as the long-awaited event finally happened. Pinpricks of light suddenly dotted the moon's surface, as if giant dragonflies were born and took flight in vast numbers. Even without binoculars, yellow, orange and red swirls and patterns became visible, bursting from cracks and fissures criss-crossing the barren moonscape, untouched for aeons, and now stirred into sudden feverish activity. It had been explained to Ben in class this morning that megatons and megatons of explosives were to be hurled at the moon, set to rip apart the earth's satellite after countless centuries of faithful service. Ben and all the others gaped in stunned amazement at the moon rapidly becoming engulfed with what had to be clouds of ash and dust and pulverised rock, until it majestically burst apart in myriads and myriads of fragments, like a flower of stone blossoming in the life-giving warmth and light of the sun, and throwing out its pollen into the universe. As the remnants of the moon flew in all directions and the glowing cloud of dust started to dissipate, a thundering applause rose from all around, and cheers and exclamations issued forth from thousands of mouths. Without the moon's reflected light, it had become noticeably darker. The stars now shone in blinding splendour, apart from where the dust cloud, all that was left of the moon, obscured the view. Another wish of Princess Gloria had been granted! Was her father, the Emperor, truly omnipotent? Would he stop short of nothing to please his only daughter? "Wasn't that wonderful?" Ben's mother whispered, clearly overwhelmed with emotion. "A moonless wedding night! My God!" "It's a crying shame," Ben's dad angrily. "There was no reason to blow up the moon. That air-headed Gloria should have picked a moonless night to start with. Do you realise what this operation must have cost? Don't you think that money should have been spent to the country's benefit? This spectacle was sheer madness!" Dad's voice was dangerously rising in pitch. "Don't talk like that, Dean, please. And do try to keep your voice down. If someone hears you talking like that..." "What about freedom of speech then? Or has that perhaps been blown up as well?" Ben clearly felt his father was growing furious, and thought it necessary to intervene. "Didn't Princess Gloria want fireworks, mom? When can we expect the fireworks?" He tried to sound as positive and enthusiastic as possible. "Oh, Ben," his mother replied with a trembling voice she desperately struggled to control. "I don't think we'll have to wait too long for the fireworks." Mom turned out to be right. A short time afterwards falling stars appeared in the sky, and their numbers increased rapidly until the entire sky was ablaze with streaks of light, rivalling in beauty and brightness. Mom grabbed his hand, and whispered: "Don't you think it's wonderful, Ben? Just look at it!" "Aw, God," his dad said. "This makes me sick. Those are fragments of the moon burning up in the earth's atmosphere. What a disgrace! Fireworks, my ass! This nonsense has gone too far. I think I'm gonna puke." Dad sounded truly disgusted, and mom cringed at his foul language. Ben wasn't sure which side to choose. He didn't like to hear his dad make comments that clearly hurt his mother, but maybe dad was right and mom was being too emotional about the whole marriage. Ben knew that dad didn't appreciate what they were taught at school about the Emperor and the glorious history of the Empire. Ben and his parents and all the other families out on their porches or on the street were still staring at the unending shower of meteors turning the night sky into a blinding kaleidoscope, offering lofty comments and words of praise and producing volleys of "ooohs" and "aaahs", as dad started moaning again. "All right, so now they've blown up the moon and burned up its fragments. What's next? What else did that snotty Gloria demand? Something special to wrap up the Wedding Party of the Century? Some over-the-top crowning event that will really piss us off?" "Dean, please." Mom started sobbing again, finding no solace anymore in the glorious spectacle overhead. There was deeply-felt pain in her voice, but dad didn't seem to care, and just rambled on. "What could it be? Let me think... Lots of children? No, surely it should be something more grandiose. Immortality? Eternal youth? That would be more like it. Everlasting sunshine, perhaps? Peace on earth? Will all frogs be turned into good-looking princes? I'm sure her dear old father can have that arranged. No sweat, dear Gloria. Just state your wishes." Dad chuckled, a sound that clashed with mom's sobbing. Ben felt he had to say something, a remark or suggestion that would steer the conversation back into more tranquil waters. "Confetti!" he exclaimed. "Isn't everyone showered with confetti at the end of a wedding?" He threw a triumphant look at his mother, then at his father. Dad grumbled something under his breath, and mom gently put her arm around him, and said: "Of course, my boy. Confetti. I'm sure there'll be plenty of confetti real soon now." Fragments of the moon kept coming down, until the entire sky was criss-crossed with their fiery streaks. After a while, just as dad told them he had seen enough and would go back inside, they heard a dull thud nearby, as if some heavy object had fallen down. "What was that?" mom asked. "Did you hear that?" They all looked in the direction the sound had come from. "Of course," dad suddenly cried out. "Confetti! Isn't that obvious? You were right, my boy. You were goddamned right all along! We are all to be showered with confetti. This is indeed how a wedding ends. Didn't that bitch say she wanted everyone to remember her wedding night for the rest of their lives? Come on, folks. Let's get back inside, and go straight to the cellar. There's a lot of confetti coming down, and it can hit us any moment now." More and more dull thuds could now be heard, and fires were flaring up all around. "Confetti?" Ben asked, still not quite sure what dad meant. "Only the smaller fragments of the moon burn up completely in the earth's atmosphere," dad explained. "The bigger ones hit the surface as red-hot rocks. The really big ones will leave craters big enough to turn into swimming pools for Princess Gloria. I'd rather not think about what the huge ones will do. We'll be lucky if we survive this. Boy, what a wedding night! First fireworks, and now confetti! Jesus Christ!" Smouldering rocks now started coming down in vast numbers, and all the families who were out admiring the spectacle hurried inside. Hadn't Gloria wished indeed her wedding night would be vividly remembered by everyone in the Empire? And didn't the Emperor see to it all his daughter's wishes were granted? Presently they were hulking in the cellar, praying the biggest confetti-moonrocks would smash down elsewhere. the end (Arbait for #bookz)