A Splash of Red

Image by thatsphotography from Pixabay



The water beneath Fiona was a clear blue reflection of the sky above.

Tiny fish followed along in the wake of her kayak, flashing silver in swaths. On, off, on, off, like some indecipherable version of Morse code.

Fiona paddled farther toward the center of the glacial lake.
Despite the climb to reach its shore, despite the solitude since arriving at
the trailhead with her folding kayak strapped to her back, she felt compelled to
reach the center.

This was the first time she had gotten away in ten years.
Fiona MacIntosh, CEO of IQ, the most accurate political think tank in history.
Predictor of the last three US Presidents, the past four British PMs and French
Presidents, the consecutive wins of the current Israeli PM. What Fiona knew,
however, was that once you had the reputation of IQ, predicting the win was the
same as deciding the win.

If there was a center of the Earth, a place where people felt
compelled to congregate when they sought human companionship, this was its antipode.
A place of unmatched clarity Fiona believed to exist in the very center of this
lake, its deepest point.

That would be the greatest solitude available on the surface
of the Earth. Finally, when she reached this spot, she could unburden herself
without risk.

She carried no GPS, she followed intuition. She would know
which way to turn, where to stop, because it would feel right. And when it did,
she stowed her paddle under the bungee and took a moment to compose herself.

Fiona took her cap off, shook out her hair, then cupped the bowl of the cap around her face.

“I know nothing about politics,” she said.

She lowered the cap into the water and watched as it sank to
the bottom.

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