Presidential assassination attempt foiled
BREAKING NEWS: A Gifted assassin is foiled after conjuring a weapon from his tablet. Additional details forthcoming.
When Papa heard that the President was coming to Springfield, he decided we should go see him speak. It was an election year, but the President was at the end of his second term, so his speeches were mostly about how to get through this worldwide event. He still plugged his party, of course, but his main focus was reassuring people that the country would not fall apart.
Well, except for Texas, but they hadn’t actually seceded. Some guy who could cause earthquakes travelled the border between Texas and its neighboring states and split Texas off from the rest of the country. The tabloids, which were a real source of news now, said he had almost finished when a hungry dragon swooped down and stopped him.
Anyways, Papa called up a friend who was organizing local security and got us on the list for a pair of tickets. He sent in our information for the background checks and told me that we’d have great seats. Since it was during summer vacation, we decided to arrive a day early and visit Lincoln’s New Salem, the Lincoln Museum, and Lincoln’s Home. We were pretty wiped out by the time we got to the hotel that night, so we came straight back after dinner and went to sleep.
After breakfast, we walked over to the Convention Center and lined up with the people who had tickets after passing through the first security screening. There were a lot of other people crowding around trying to catch a glimpse of the President when he arrived, but they didn’t need to go through security again.
We were almost to the second checkpoint when I heard a scuffle behind us. As I turned, I saw several security guys hauling away a couple of people from between the two checkpoints. I heard a lady behind me say “All clear,” which is when I realized there was a security person standing right near us. She looked at Papa and smiled. “Good to see you again, Henry.” Papa smiled and waved slightly, then she turned away to watch the President’s car arriving. People started to crowd in to get a better spot, pushing those of us in the line.
As the President stepped out of his car, a guy pushed between Papa and me. He said “Excuse me” in a polite tone as he moved through, but I also heard “You’re blocking my shot,” and that was in an angry voice. I looked up, puzzled because I couldn’t see a camera, but then I realized he was carrying an iPad. ‘Of course,’ I thought, ‘he must be using the iPad’s camera.’ But as I watched, he reached his hand into the tablet.
“Papa!” I yelled, and he turned to look as the guy pulled a pistol out of the iPad’s screen. Papa reacted immediately, moving toward the assassin and shouting “Security! Gun!” I spun to look for Papa’s friend, who I saw pushing through people to get to us, and as I turned back I heard a gunshot. Papa fell to the ground just before his friend and another security guard tackled the guy with the gun.
I rushed over to Papa and saw a lot of blood on the ground around him. Another security guard called for a medic, but Papa looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, Evie, I’d stay if I could.” He grasped my hand as I started to cry, and I shook my head at him, but couldn’t find anything to say. Papa’s friend came and sat on the ground by me as the medic worked to stop the bleeding, but Papa’s eyes glazed over and he stopped looking at me.
Everything around me seemed to slow down at that moment. I saw the medic sit back with a defeated look on his face, and I heard his friend sob beside me, just once.
And then Papa stood up.
Except he didn’t, really. His body stayed on the ground, but a transparent version of Papa stood back up. He knelt down in front of me, reaching out to touch my hair, but his hand passed right through me. “Evie, I’m not ready to leave you.” His friend gasped and I knew I wasn’t the only one seeing him.
Aunt Mary came and picked us up. Papa can’t drive anymore; he has to focus really hard to touch anything. But he can walk through walls, and he can be completely invisible when he wants, so we figure it balances out. He attended his own funeral, when we put his body into the ground by Momma’s, and he stood at my side when the President thanked us for stopping the assassin. Papa tells anybody who will listen that I’m his Gift, and that he’s the luckiest father ever, dead or alive.