Being a record of certain phenomena found in the environs of the Lost Quarter.

Everyone in Their Right Lane

She came into town at the end of summer, harvest in full swing in the fields. Come speak your grievances to me, she said, and the people came for they had many. It seemed it had been so long since someone had actually listened. She had an easy way about her, a smile that said she understood just what the problem was and how it might be solved. No matter the concern her answer was the same: it was not their fault and it certainly wasn’t hers. The dominion government that ruled them from far away – elected yes, but not legitimate – acted against them in all ways and needed to be cast aside. And there were others, newcomers from even further away, who had come here but did not belong and were creating trouble wherever they went.  

She was not the first to come this way, not by a long shot. Fifty years now, another gleaming politician coming to town filled with answers to the same problems. You would have thought people would get tired of it, but they liked being listened to, even if the problems they all promised to fix still persisted. It was an acknowledgement that they existed and to some extent mattered. She liked giving them someone to blame. It was largely forgotten she had been that way in years before, telling everyone their freedoms were under threat. Now that she was in charge, the tune had changed somewhat. Though she still told them they were right, this couldn’t stand, and these others must be dealt with. 

Once this had been a great land, they said, and she agreed. That is why we must hold on to everything we have tightly so we don’t lose more of it. The only way to do that, she said, was that everyone had to stay in their lanes and keep to their proper place. The dominion government should stay out of their lives. Town councils too. The only proper government was hers, because only she understood what was needed in these perilous times. Also, kids were getting weirder and weirder, talking in their indecipherable slang, dressing strangely and deciding they were one thing and then another. They especially needed to stay in their lane and avoid unnatural inclinations. Obviously outside influences were the cause of that, so books would have to be banned and curriculum restored to rote memorization and oaths of loyalty to better protect minds so easily influenced. 

That was needed everywhere in truth. People couldn’t be trusted to stay in their lanes either, as the few who appeared at the complaint sessions who disputed what she said made clear. The only way to ensure less government intrusion in peoples lives, which everyone agreed was the goal, was for everyone to do as they were told. It did not need to be said who would do the telling. Most of those who attended were happy to follow along. It was easier and felt safer to have someone who could tell them how the world was and why it was right and clever for them to do exactly what she said.