Micro-fiction 035 – The Big Man (Post-Apocalypse series)

The Big Man and his big truths, a fable of power, ignorance and his election to the most powerful office in the land.

The Big Man

The Big Man was the biggest man in the biggest country in the world. That’s what he told himself. His own achievements were big, and that’s what he told everyone else. He knew if he kept saying the same words over-and-over everyone would agree with him, because that’s what they always did. If anyone disagreed, he shouted and told them they were lying, because what he said was always true. He had the money, and now he had the power, so whatever he said, whatever he thought was always automatically right. And it had always been so.

He had long been suspicious of the democracy thing because it allowed people to disagree with each other. He knew that he had to use it to become elected because his Daddy had told him to be clever, to pretend to do what other people thought was right, to play the game up to the point when you could discard it as an inconvenience.

“Any means necessary son.” His father’s words always sat at the back of his head. And he always tried to please his father, even now, long after his father’s unfortunate death by rolling down the stairs too fast.

During his election The Big Man had seen many things on the TV that caught his attention. The Government was lying to the people! It covered up discovery of aliens in the 1950s, it told people that a Man had landed on the moon, it said other countries could interfere with the elections!

“Everyone knows foreigners can’t reach their little hands into our country, from their country, and change the little wires. Ridiculous!” The Big Man shouted at the TV as his wife and son came into his room.

“What is it Sir?” The Big Man’s son could always be trusted to do exactly what his father wanted, and respectfully. Sometimes The Big Man noticed a hesitation in his son’s voice, but dismissed it as the weakness his own father had found in him, something that could be ironed out with bigger doses of truth.

“The Government, it’s playing us all for fools.” The big man shouted, “Every time I see someone on TV give a statement about the economy or something science-y, there’s always someone else with a different view. There can only be one truth in a fact. It’s obvious to me, so the one who doesn’t agree with me must be lying.” He looked at his wife, an elegant, proud woman wreathed in clothes that he had chosen for her, that made her look good, and made him feel and look good too when she was photographed next to him.

* * *

The Big Man was elected, because enough people agreed with his assertion that the Government lied, that only he could rescue them by telling the same truth they understood, that if the Government was lying then it was responsible for the bad things in the country because it was hiding its actions from the people. He did what his Daddy told him to, and played the system to get what he wanted.

“You’re fired!” On his first day the Head of the Secret Service tried to give him a large briefing document, with many words, on foreigners interfering with the election. “Not so secret are you? Coming into my room with your lies.” His eyes widened for a moment. “You’re spies, you must be spying on me too! Leave now!”

“You’re fired!” On his second day the Chief Scientific Officer gave him a briefing, with more words, about climate change and what to do about it. The CSO explained that the solution was to reduce emissions and research alternative sources of energy. The Big Man knew this was a lie because it would affect the huge business his daddy had built. And his daddy was a big success that he had inherited. “You’re trying to undermine me with your lies. Go!”

“You’re fired!” On his third day the Chief Economist gave him a large document showing how the Government worked with big business, and balanced taxes with expenditure. The Big Man was bored after the first paragraph, felt hot and uncomfortable, “You’re trying to make me look bad. You must be lying. Get out of here!”

“You’re fired!” On his fourth day the Chief Legal Executive presented a document with decisions made by the court that would stop The Big Man doing what he had told people he would do in the election. “But I was elected by the people. What I say, must be so. My truth is the law now. If you can’t see that, then you’re my enemy. Go away before I kick you out.”

“You’re fired!” On his fifth day a press conference was held with reporters who asked him questions about his policies, and the implications for the people’s wealth and health. He was quickly irritated by the idea that he could be questioned. “There will be no more press briefings, you will only report what I tell you to. Get out.”

“You’re fired!” On his sixth day the Head of the Military arrived with a new budget proposal for the army, the navy and the air fleet. It had many pages. “But we’re the biggest country in the world.” The Big Man said. “We have the best-equipped soldiers, and best trained pilots in the world. I said so in my campaign. Are you saying that’s not so?” The Head of the Military mumbled something about it being more complicated than that. “So you’re saying I’m a liar? Unbelievable!” The Big Man scrunched his face in anger. “You’d better leave. And if those so-called cyber-experts are outside, tell them they’re fired too.”

And so it went on. He noticed that his staff, often his own children would bring documents for him to sign, to keep the machinery of government working, but now they brought a single piece of paper with big speech bubbles and pictures to explain, with his name everywhere. He liked that, so he smiled, and signed.

He filled his room with TV screens. He liked them because if they said something he didn’t like, he shouted and they didn’t answer back. He always ate in front of the screens, pushing food into his slack jaw.

He stayed in his room most of the time. He didn’t like the big official room because often with so many people crowded in he was uncomfortable, and always wanted to push himself to the centre of the room because he was The Big Man. But he felt his stomach growing, and the effort to waddle fast was getting to him. And so many people still disagreed with him, he had to keep firing them, that was exhausting too. He began to stay in the small office to the side.

“I want a bigger desk!” He shouted into the air, knowing someone would run in.

“How big sir?” The last remaining staffer poked his nervous neck around the door.

“Stupid question. Just find me the biggest desk.” He shouted, then too heavy to lean back, slumped forward, to watch the TV. Now he had more than ten screens, each with different channels, their pale glows twitching in the half light of the room. The staffer ran out, fetched some catalogues, then returned and pushed pages, one by one, in front of The Big Man.

“No, no, you idiot, these are all too small.” He tried to look behind him, the rolls of fat on his neck restricting his movement, to the window that almost spanned from floor to ceiling. “That big.”

The staffer stared for a moment. “We’ll commission it as a new one, like a throne Sir, a special one.”

“You do that.” The Big Man mumbled.

So they built the biggest desk in the world, for The Big Man. And the biggest, widest chair into which eventually the Big Man was lifted. His staffer, and his family gathered round to watch the unsteady progress.

“I love the red crane.” The Big Man clapped his hands as a heavy machine shoved him upwards, high up behind the big desk, and soon he stepped into the mighty chair.

“Ah.” The three of them could hear his voice from high above. They looked at the TV screens, still glowing, then left the room to the satisfied sound of squelching.

“It’s the lunch he likes,” The staffer nodded at the family, “it pops up automatically through a hatch. When he shouts for it, the food will deliver within minutes. Makes me irrelevant really.” The Big Man didn’t notice them leaving, above the sounds of his munching, and the chatter of the TV screens far below.

“So, he doesn’t need us any more.” The family looked at each other, and slipped away.

Now, with the biggest desk, The Big Man towered over all. A new election coming up he could look down on everyone. He conducted all interviews through the TV screens.

“Don’t vote for any of the other liars. They’re too small, they would look silly running the country behind the big desk. Look!” He had drawn a small stick figure trying to climb a big desk, and another figure, round, sitting at the top, reaching down to flick the small people away. ‘If you can’t sit behind the big desk, you can’t make the big decisions!” He laughed, spitting food across the room.

“Anyway. I’ve made a big decision. I’m going to fire the voters.”

“What do you mean Sir? A voice crackled from one of the TV screens.”

“I’m cancelling all elections. Anyone who votes against me is a liar. Lying to me is against the law. I don’t want a bunch of illegals voting in an election. So I’ve fired the election. It’s right here,” he waved the piece of paper with the little stick people, “I’ve just signed it.” He made a scratching noise with a big pen.

The Big Man felt good. He had removed all the liars, he sat above everyone else, the only voices he heard where those in front of his desk, on the screens, out of his sight, his food was delivered to him without any effort on his part, he’d removed the spies and the experts and the press and the staff who didn’t understand his truth. The only people left where those who loved him. He fell asleep at his desk.

* * *

When he woke up, he could barely lift his head, his desk with shaking slightly, a rumbling echoed through his pulsing flesh. He opened an eye. It was still dark. Then he realised he was staring at another eye. He tried to jump back, but was trapped in his own chair, by his weight and the long distance either side to the floor below.

“Hiiiiiiii.” The large eye was attached to a narrow green head, and a skinny green body. “There’s no-one else here, so we thought we’d drop by.” The rumbling grew louder, and The Big Man tried to turn his head to look out of the window behind him.

“I can see that’s difficult for you, poor thing. I’ll describe it for you: massive spaceship, landing on your back yard. We thought you’d fire at us, or notice us at least, but here we are, with hundreds more on our way. Isn’t that exciting? And you seem to be the only one here…”
[end]

Part of a new series of micro-fiction stories, released as These Fantastic Worlds SF & Fantasy Fiction Podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher  and more. Also on this blog, These Fantastic Worlds.

Text, image, audio © 2020 Jake Jackson, thesefantasticworlds.com. Thanks to Frances Bodiam and Elise Wells,  Logic ProX, Sound Studio, the Twisted Wave Recorder App, Apogee Condenser microphone, and Alfons Schmidt’s fantastic Notebook app.

More Tales

There are many other great stories in this series, including:

Bewildered
Two Faces
Shaman
The Three Laws
Disintegration
Time Thief
Ophelia A.I.
Helm
Masks
Henge

And a carousel of 10 audio stories from the podcast with information about submissions.

Here’s a related post, 5 Steps to the SF and Fantasy Podcasts.

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