Project Village

    The Village was deserted, well except for me of course! There wasn’t another soul around, I discovered that when I explored the Village this morning. The only movement was the branches of the trees as they stirred in the breeze. The only sound, the squawking of the sea gulls. I couldn’t believe what had happened, that everyone had escaped the Village but me! So with nowhere else to go I returned to the relative comfort of my cottage to think what my next move would be.
   “Who the devil are you?” I said looking at the man now standing in my cottage.

   “I’m the Supervisor” he said.

   “Well where is everyone?”
   “Escaped in the night!” said the Supervisor “well everyone by me, the Observers and trusted Guardians.”

   “So what happens now?”
   “Nothing. In the absence of any Number Two, I’ve promoted myself as the new Number Two, and you are still the Prisoner” said the Supervisor “we will train all our surveillance cameras to be turned on you. The Guardians shall watch your every move like hawks. There shall be no further escapes from the Village!”

   And that is how it was, every move the Prisoner made was watched by the Observers by day and by night. His daily walks around the Village. His trips to the General Store, his buying a copy of the daily issue of The Tally Ho from the kiosk, and very time the Prisoner went water skiing, or to the gymnasium for his daily workout, he was accompanied by Guardians. And that is how it was, for days on end, and the days turned into weeks. Until one day………

   “How are we today?” asked the Supervisor.

   “You should know better than I!” the Prisoner sneered.

   “You haven’t tried to escape.”

   “There has been no opportunity, being watched by night and day by you! Besides, the Guardians have put a ring of steel around the Village, there’s just no-way out.”

   “There must be. If there is a gap in our security my money would be on you to find it.”

   The Prisoner paused for a moment “You want me to try and escape, what to test you own efficiencies?”

   “Not at all. We want you to escape, so that we can escape with you! We are all sick of this, all of us to guard you, this isn’t Spandau . After all we are all prisoners here!”

   “It seems to me that some prisoners are more prisoners than other prisoners. Besides I couldn’t help you to escape, that would be collaborating with the enemy. Why don’t you all just walk out?”

   “Where is the fun in that? We need you to come up with the perfect plan, perhaps we could dig a tunnel for the Great Escape!” the Supervisor suggested.

    The following morning the Prisoner woke up to find that there was no water to fill the kettle for his morning cup of tea. Mind you there was no electricity to boil the kettle! He went outside. The Village square was deserted, as was the central area, the pool and fountain. The General Store, the café, Old People’s Home, all locked against him. The day had finally dawned for the Prisoner, that everyone had escaped the Village except for him! What could he do? The mountains were impassable. He couldn’t pilot a helicopter, even if there was one! There were no boats. He might build himself a raft, but that had been tried before, as had the boat, and more than once. The Prisoner decided to stay exactly where he was, but to send a distress signal. Or rather like Robinson Crusoe to light a beacon in order to try to attract someone’s attention, a passing aircraft, a ship out at sea, someone from his world. The Prisoner filled the top of the Bell Tower with wood, paper, bed sheets, anything that would burn. Then he set light to it. The beacon blazed through the night……. The next day the Village was utterly and completely deserted. There had been a final escape, with only the Village cat as witness!        

BCNU