A Halloween Tale

The King of Lies and the Ghosts of the Plague

The King of Lies lay sleeping in his golden bed. Suddenly he was awakened by a voice calling out to him, “Arise.” He rose from his bed but saw no one. The voice called again, “Put on your royal regalia.” As in a trance, he put on his golden crown with jewels of half-truths, his robe of woven conspiracies, his golden necklace adorned with links of alternative facts, and took up his scepter of endless falsehoods. Then propelled by an unseen force, he left his palace and silently marched down the Road of Trampled Laws until he came to a great wooden door which slowly swung open. “Enter,” a voice boomed, and so he did.

There seated at a long table sat three men dressed in black robes, and behind them rose a dense fog. The men on the right and left each had a huge book, inkwell and pen in front of them as though they were scribes. An elderly man with a piercing eyes and long white beard sat between them. He pointed a long finger at the King and demanded, “Identify yourself.” The King drew himself up taller, threw out his chest, and announced, “I am the King of Lies, the most powerful man in the world, my armies are the most powerful, my kingdom the richest, my land the most productive. All nations bow to me. Why am I here?”

The old man replied, “This is the Court of Judgement.” Pointing to the right, he said, “This is the Record of Truth.” Pointing to the left, he said, “This is the Record of Lies. All is recorded here. I am the Chief Prosecutor.” The King of Lies roared back, “None can judge me. Under our ancient laws, I am all powerful. My Minister of Justice prosecutes all my enemies and all who oppose my rule and would replace me. I am the supreme judge whose wishes he obeys.”

The Chief Prosecutor then announced, ”King of Lies, you are accused of betraying your sacred oath to protect your laws and your nation. Your lied to your people about the coming plague, ignored the warnings and advice of wise men and scientists, let the physicians and medical staffs be unprepared for any months, told half truths about the dangers people faced and spread disinformation and conspiracies about the measures essential to protect against the disease. Those telling the truth were labelled ‘fake media’ and ‘liers.’ You devised no policy to protect your subjects and left all responsibility to the governors of your states and local officials. You are accused of being responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of your subjects. How do you plea?”

The King replied, “I kept my people from panicking. I told them what they needed to know. I kept the economy and stock market strong. Care of the people’s health and fighting disease is a governor’s responsibility. not mine. Who dares accuse me?”

Suddenly the fog lifted, and row upon row of ghostly faces appeared until there were hundreds of thousands of disembodied shades with tears streaming from their eyes. Then, with a great roar, they dried in unison, “We are the dead and the dead to come! We accuse! We accuse!”

The Kind of Lies cried out, “I am the all powerful king, None can accuse me. None dare accuse me.” Shaking and sweating heavily he awoke in his golden bed. The Queen of Lies and Chief Steward ran into the room calling out, “It was only a nightmare. Calm down.” Instead the King ordered them to call the Wizard of Q, for only he could interpret his dream. The Queen urged him to call the Learned Doctors of C, but he insisted that he could trust only the Wizard of Q. All others were his enemies.

Just then, the Vice Premier entered the royal bedchamber and announced, “Your Majesty, your adoring subjects await you in the Plaza of the Shredded Constitution.” And so, the King of Lies arose, once again dressed in his royal robes and walked to balcony to greet his loyal followers. As he raised his hands and waved the scepter of endless falsehoods, the mesmerized crowd loudly cheered him. Then suddenly, it changed into a sea of weeping ghostly faces. And from them, a great cry arose, “We are the dead and the dead to come. We accuse! We accuse! We accuse!”

The End

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