Submitted by Crusoe
The sun rose through my window, the dawning of a bright and cheerful day, sparrows tweeting, blackbirds singing, doves cooing. After I stretched, I succumbed to the world of technology, grabbed the iPo remote and switched on. The early news roused me more than expected, indeed, startled me into a state of unheralded alertness. ‘The Prime Minister stated that he has enjoyed each and every moment of the last eight years, but believes that the time has come to rest, unlike Napoleon Bonaparte who ‘“had tasted command, and could not give it up”, he can.’
Stunned I listened intently as the reader further expanded ‘ the PM has indicated as April 30 as his last day of office, which shall herald in a bye-election.’ [In other news, the Finance Minister has stated that he is no longer comfortable with leading the charge against the widening economic issues, he has also tendered his resignation from the Cabinet and from Parliament’.
I sat bolt upright, a general election then? But I was drawn back to the news reader, ‘on further news the Chamber of Commerce has announced that businessmen, as a collective have proffered two hundred acres of land to be donated to lower income housing, which he has insisted shall be implemented by international housing charities. Interestingly, more philanthropy accompanied this disclosure, with the major commercial banks, as a group, promising a total of USD250Million as seed money towards the implementation of this goal, together with another USD150Million towards new equipment and refurbishment of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as a thank you for the patronage and loyalty of Barbadians over the past hundred years’.
My thoughts clouded with shock and awe, at the sudden explosion of kindness and goodness. What could have driven this, this sudden outflow of goodness?
Brought back to alertness by the newsreader, announcing a new initiative of the Attorney General, that no Barbadian, man nor woman, shall; henceforth be jailed for anything but crimes of violence, and the implementation of a program of repayment of time and money by those found to have committed crimes, instead of incarceration, together with an electronic bracelet system, surprised me further.
So much to take in, so early, as the sun glistened off of my bedroom window, peeping over the lovely shoulder of my dear wife. I felt to wake her, to tell her the world is getting better, but she slept so soundly, and the light falling and lighting her lashes filled we with contentment, and I desisted.
‘In further news, education reforms were yesterday announced, with the curriculum in schools to be changed, the new focus to be excellence rather than volume. In addition, ”in class training for various professions and skills, shall take preference over academia that is not relevant and merely to pass the time of day” said the Minister”. In other news, the Leader of the Opposition presented to the press, detailed draft documents for new Integrity and Transparency Legislation, to be implemented as soon after the expected general election, should they win. She also indicated that her team had five new young members, including a well known attorney who has ”staked his claim on the way things should be done”. She has promised that tomorrow will usher in a new dawn of leadership and governance and a full review of the civil service and elimination of inefficiency’.
The news reader herself sound shocked, reading in a breathless and hasty voice. What winds of change have taken root, what has flown in on the breezes, that has caused such to happen? As the news ended, I had no choice but to rise and seek my mug of that beautiful dusky liquid and today I celebrated with Jamaican Blue Mountain, so excited was I. I flung open the doors, breathed in the morning air, a full breath, smelling that unbeatable Caribbean air. Oh, what a life.
As I flung open the doors, the sheet caught my arm, and my eyes fluttered open, ah but no. But no, it was but a dream.
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