Tri-Colors

Such a wondrous thing.

There. Above the boulevard. Ascending through the purple morning haze.

Ah, you can see it so clearly now. A perfect, neon salmon disc. The morning sun.

There is so much in life to bring us awe and wonder. Even the ordinary things are sometimes rendered, well, extraordinary.

My. It almost evokes a paean from me, were I of such a barbarous inclination. Even so, the sight of the morning sun can be such a surprising delight, sometimes. After all, how many billions of years has it been? We really would miss it if some morning it decided to miss its appointed round and go scurrying off to some more appreciative globe. Where heathens stylishly attired in states of deshabille make offerings of willing young virgins Or whatever may be lying about, should virgins be out of vogue.

Oh, there would be such a gnashing and a wailing. To be so forsaken by our old friend. You must admit, it would be a sad thing.

Ah, they’ve kept my table for me. The proprietor here is so kind. Un vrai homme. Coffee, yes. I make it a habit to have no wine before ten. Calories, you know. I have to watch my waistline, you know. Actually, I should be seeing less of it.

Let me see. What hilarity lies within the pages of Le Monde? Where are the theatre pages?

Tsk, tsk. The American militarists are working on a position paper to allow the use of a preemptive nuclear strike. Why do they find it so hard to understand that the world regards the United States as a very dangerous nation? And why are they so insistent in believing that one doesn’t need friends as long as the rest of the world fears them? I would think one would much rather have friends than enemies. After all, friends will come to one’s aid in times of need. Whereas an enemy is just awaiting your moment of need to pounce.

What a sad catastrophe in our old colony! Oh, but here’s something new: “Government Response Sadly Inept”. True. Sad. It makes me a tad uneasy to think of an inept government with the expressed desire to use nuclear weapons first and ask questions later.

“Monsieur Le President, you simply must accept our apologies for the reduction in force (so to speak) of your city and the unfortunate, um, negation of its population of seven million inhabitants. Still, you must bear in mind that there may have been as many as a dozen terrorists among them who may have wished to use some kind of weapon of mass destruction against our nation. Our evidence is airtight and unimpeachable, consisting as it does of the suppositions of a former aide in the Department of Weights and Measures. Unfortunately he happened to be vacationing in your (formerly) wonderful city when it was, um, “set aside”. So we pretty much have to accept his testimony on faith. Again, you must accept our apologies.”

An act of God, they call it. It rather seems that God would choose to act in more benign ways. Odd that we should be thankful to a God that brings us pestilence, famine, and flood. What a puzzlement. Now, health, plenty, and soft warm breezes, those are true acts of God.


What now? Ah! Those jolly students from the university! What injustice has brought them to into the streets this morning, I wonder?

Aux armes! Aux armes, citoyennes! Yes, let the rascals hear the voice of the people! Mount the barricades! Liberte, egalite, fraternite. Vive la revolution! Bravo!