map Escalator

by David Berger

Published in Issue No. 274 ~ March, 2020

I. The President of the Strongest Country in the World sits quietly, alone, in the Situation Room of the president’s Historic Dwelling. He is vaguely aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain. A very large screen television is on, turned to his favorite news channel. But uncharacteristically, he isn’t watching it. A person who doesn’t know the President might have thought he was thinking about something. But the truth is that thinking is not a characteristic behavior of this man. Actually, he is reminiscing about having sex with various women. If you happen to ask him what he’s doing in the most secure room in the country, he will be confused and have difficulty answering. The only other thing he is vaguely aware of is a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain.

II. The President of the Largest Country in the World sits alone in a small, luxurious, room in the Ancient Residence of the leaders of his country. He is vaguely aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain. A fire is blazing in a large fireplace near him. The President is relaxing on a couch, having just eaten some pistachio ice cream. His face carries his well-known sly smile. An aide coming into the room would be excused if he thought that the President was meditating or remembering things past. It is commonly known among his aides that the President enjoys contemplating episodes from his career, especially the more violent ones. On a giant movie screen, the six-hour movie version of “War and Peace” is showing. However, the truth is that the President is focused on two things. One is the sexual exploits of the President of the Strongest Country in the World. He is also aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain.

III. The President of the Most Populous Country in the World is sitting on a low, ornate stool in a perfectly cubic room, five meters on each side, all surfaces covered in red tile. He is vaguely aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain. Allegedly, the Red Room, as it’s called, is for the President to meditate and consider and contemplate the future of his country and its glorious past. But it is known that the President mostly uses it to view high-quality pornography and even to conduct sexual affairs on a large, four-poster bed that sits in the room for that purpose. However, the bed is absent currently. There is a small TV screen showing a professional basketball game of some years ago. However, the President is, in fact, focused on the memories of the sexual activities of the President of the Strongest Country in the World, as transmitted through the brain of the President of the Largest Country in the World. He is also aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, ressure deep inside his brain.

IV. The Prime Minister of the Second Most Populous Nation in the World lies on a couch in one of the rooms of his Official Residence. He is vaguely aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain. The sun is shining directly through the windows, but the curtains are drawn. He is comfortable, almost napping, and his wife would be justified in believing he is thinking about the joys of his country: its magnificent army, his own political power and the many temples he is building. Lying on his stomach is a laptop computer. He can feel the solid weight of it, because it’s a rather heavy, older one. The President’s email is displayed on the screen, but he’s not actually looking at it. But playing distantly in his mind are the sex memories of the President of the Strongest Country in the World, as transmitted through the brain of the President of the Largest Country in the World, then through the brain of the President of the Most Populous Country in the World. He is also aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain.

V. Awax Kabongo is a 17-year-old secondary school student in the Poorest Country in the World. He is vaguely aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain. He is sitting on the floor in his mathematics classroom. His teacher is demonstrating the Pythagorean Theorem. Geometry isn’t boring to Awax Kabongo, so normally he would be watching and listening. Instead, for some reason, wandering in his mind are the carnal activities of the President of the Strongest Country in the World, as transmitted through the brain of the President of the Largest Country in the World, then through the brain of the President of the Most Populous Country in the World and finally through the brain of the President of the Second Most Populous Country in the world. Awax Kobongo is also aware of a tiny, almost pleasant, pressure deep inside his brain.

VI. Aloysia Murgatroyd is the unlikely Earth name of an Alien from Planet Venettope. Her physical appearance is irrelevant. However, she really does resemble a very large, heavy, six-legged tortoise, complete with a shell. All these features have developed through evolution on Venettope, where winds of up to 300 kilometers an hour and rains of gravel, rocks and boulders are frequent, indeed almost constant. Aloysia Murgatroyd considers the hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, etc., of Planet Earth to be mild breezes. She is a scientist, who has developed an ingenious way of spying on the great and powerful of Earth by having their skulls penetrated by micrometeorites that contain powerful transmitters, each linked to each other, chainlike. These transmitters, in addition to displaying what the transmitter bearers are both seeing and hearing, also reveal the contents of their minds at and near consciousness. This is invariably more interesting than what they are looking at and listening to. These thoughts, near thoughts and memories also raise constant questions. Why, for instance, Aloysia Murgatroyd wonders, are the thoughts of the President of the Strongest Country in the World almost constantly on having sex with women with big breasts?

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I'm an old guy from Brooklyn, now living in Manhattan with my wife of 25 years: the finest jazz singer in NYC. I'm a father and grandfather. I've been, among other things, a caseworker, construction worker, letter carrier, high school and ESL teacher, a legal proofreader and a union organizer. Love life, my wife and the world. Hope to help the latter escape destruction.