It's a bit long, but I guarantee it's an enjoyable read!
A long time ago, there was a powerful Kingdom in the ancient
world.
The Kingdom was ruled by a wise royal family. They realize that in
order to administer the Kingdom effectively, they must have control
over the judges, the soldiers and the messengers.
Their most influential messenger was a grand old lady called
Gwen Forsynth.
As the chief messenger, her duty to the Kingdom was to convey
accurate information to the peasants and workers. She was also the
official spokesperson of the royal family.
Despite her cool and impartial appearance, Madam Forsynth was a
very tortured soul.
On one hand she lived among the peasants and workers, and talked
often with them, so she identified with them.
On the other hand she had frequent audiences with the royal family,
and understood the importance of their decisions, so she respected
them greatly.
The problem is - whenever the royal family and the workers
disagree, they both tend to blame Mdm Forsynth.
The royal family reminds Gwen to exercise restraint over her words,
because miscommunications can be devastating to the Kingdom. The
workers accuse Gwen of withholding too many words, because
that is a form of
miscommunication.
Caught in the middle and shot by both sides, Gwen was plagued with
inner conflict. It was a pent-up frustration that was waiting for a
chance to explode.
Then one day, that opportunity came.
A friend of the royal family made a glaring mistake.
He was the head officer of T&T Welfare
Services, which obtains funds from the workers and
redirects them to needy people. He had become greedy over the years
and was diverting much of this money into his own pocket.
Gwen was suspicious of T&T because of the officer's extravagant
ways and his arrogance. She hinted to the workers as diplomatically
as she always did, that T&T had controversial practices.
This "hint" immediately drew the ire of T&T, which read the
insinuation as a direct accusation. T&T wanted blood. The head
officer challenged Gwen to a public duel to defend his
honour.
Gwen tried to settle this disagreement privately, but the T&T
head was unmoved. He was an expert marksman who had shot dead some
of his opponents before. He looked down on Gwen, a mere old
lady.
He was sure that he would win.
On the fateful day of the duel, Gwen and the head officer were each
handed a flintlock pistol. They paced outwards, back to back.
3...2...1... FIRE!!!
POP! POP!
The head officer was shocked. His shot went completely wide. Gwen's
shot however, stuck him right at his chest.
To add insult to injury, the head officer's formal dress was
damaged by the blast, causing all of his ill-gotten gold coins to
drop all over the ground.
T&T was finished. But Gwen was not done yet.
Shrieking like a crazy woman, she repacked the black powder,
reloaded her flintlock and shot the officer again and again, with
child-like pleasure in her eyes.
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
It was relentless. She knew that the royal family would not protest
because he was a "mere friend". She used this opportunity to
release all of her inner frustrations.
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
This went on for days and days. Although the head officer's body
was already shot through like swiss cheese, Gwen refused to
stop.
The royal family could only smile weakly and pretended not to
notice.
