Free Paradise Burning (The Virtagwalla Series Book 2) by Kyle Malinowski Page B

thousand citizens, and was eventually broken up by the brave men and woman of our National Guard. These rioters turned violent, looting stores and defacing public buildings. One young woman lost her life. I hope this is not news to any of you, but if it is I wish for you to take a moment to digest what I have just told you. This occurrence is the first display of violent civil disobedience in over a century,” the tension of the room was escalating. Hampton envisioned little old grannies with their crocheting needles out, gawking at their handsome President speaking of such unpleasant things.
    “The images of the riotous activity earlier may have caused many of you to be becoming worried, or concerned, and maybe ever a little scared. Let me assure you, you have nothing to be alarmed about. I respect and support those who gathered to demonstrate their feelings on the quad of Villaggio College. We are constitutionally guaranteed that right. It is a right I celebrate and cherish as a Virtagwallan. But when that righteous act becomes violent and destructive than the message becomes blurred, and frankly, horribly negative.”
    Rove paused again. He looked at Hampton Ray whose face was riddled with panic. Starting again Rove spread a smile on is face, “I wish I could come before you to tell you things are going great, that nothing is wrong. However, I would be lying to you. As many of you have personally experienced the economy of Virtagwalla is facing mounting challenges not seen in nearly four decades. We are finding it more and more difficult to have faith in our futures. As our wealth retrenches, our prospect for a better future becomes bleaker. We are venturing into very dark times, let there be no doubt about this.”
    Again he paused and he could now see it on the faces of the people in the office. Each of them wore a look of confusion, fear, or concern. He knew he was not saying what needed to be said, and began to nod again. “My fellow citizens we are venturing into a territory very new to many of us. Let me assure I am right there with you. We are all in this together. Many years ago our ancestors came forward to build for our nation the foundation for what would eventually develop into the richest, and most celebrated city on earth. We must too begin building the foundation upon which our future generations can thrive to success. We owe our children that.”
    The level of anxiety of the room began to lift as he steam rolled forward, “In just a few months this nation will change forever. The United States Congress will vote on whether to make Virtagwalla the newest state in its union. I realize this topic is exceptionally divisive, but let me assure of something. No matter what flag flies above our heads, the heart of Virtagwalla will not change. Let us be the light for our next generation. God bless the nation of Virtagwalla, and Godspeed.”
    The light turned off, and the hoard of people that were waiting on baited breath as Rove stumbled through his speech quickly approached him. Although many of them congratulated him on the speech, Rove could tell he hadn’t done very well. Xavier stuck around the office until the very late hours of the night. He was sitting in one of his lounge chairs, when Hampton came into the office with Kay. Ray looked at Rove, who was holding a cup of scotch staring into his fire.
    “Okay, time to stop moping and move forward,” Hampton said smacking him on the back.
    With his reading glasses and cup of scotch the President appeared much older than he really was. When he spoke his tone was nowhere near as powerful as it usually was, “I have 558 days left in my presidency Hampton. 558 days until I am done with this horrible, horrible job.”
    “Mr. President, that’s no way of looking at it,” Kay said slumping down on a couch by his chair. “True, you may not have been your usual Xavier Rove crowd pleasing, cheesy emotional peachiness, but it was what we needed to hear. It was