Moqtada al Sadr paced nervously. Though he had been president of The Arab Free States for thirty years he still hated making speeches. Being 75 years old didn't help much either. But the people expected him to say something on these great occasions. So he waited for the music to stop and the narrator to announce him. "Ladies and gentlemen!" the narrator cried, "The President Of The Republic!"
The Republic Anthem began to play and al Sadr made his way to the podium. When the crowd finally quieted down he looked at his notes then sat them aside. "Republic," he began, "now that's a very beautiful word when it's used properly. Back when I was a young man and following the clerics that really didn't understand what that word meant, I actually fought against those trying to create a Republic, trying to unify our people into a free and independent group of states that could accomplish great things. Then The Voice Of The Prophets came and rose God's Army, and began to deal with those Iatolas that taught us hate, that taught us not to respect those who were different but to kill any that would not follow our exact philosophy. I was in a battle somewhere, I don't remember exactly where, but there was an explosion, one we didn't intend, and the next thing I knew I woke up and somebody was dismantling my suiciide vest. I started to struggle and the man pinned me down, remarking in perfect Arabic, "Just relax, Mr. President! This isn't your day to die! God's got quite a bit for you to do yet." The vest finally came off and was hurled away. Then there was another explosion.
When the dust cleared, I found a clean shaven almost hairless man pulling himself off from me. "There!" somebody remarked, "It just wasn't your day to die! Be glad that God sent The Prophet to save you from your folly! Now, go home. Join the others. The fighting's over. Your leader's dead."
"I have no home," I snapped. "All my family's dead."
The man standing over me spoke to the other one in English. "Well, I suppose!" the man who had been speaking answered. "I tell you what, I've just been reminded I lost a son just about your age. If you give me your word you'll come into my house and act as my son I will give you a home."
"I'm Shiia," I snapped.
"What makes you think I'm not?" the man snapped back. "Not all of us are crazy! Not all of us followed these stupid clerics. Some of us had common sense!" The man who had been standing by walked off, joined by a woman in an American uniform who was grabbing at his arm. "Who was that?" I asked.
"The Voice Of God," the man beside me answered, as he checked me for wounds.
"Why did you call me Mr. President?" I asked.
"I didn't," the man answered. "He must've had. He was the only one near you."
"Why did he speak to you in English?" I asked.
"He can't speak Arabic," the man answered. "He can barely speak English. It is incredible so much power trapped in a body that has so many problems! But it does not keep him from doing the glory of God."
"I knew it was senseless to argue, I knew the man had spoken to me in Arabic but I let it go. Everybody knows what happened after that. I honored my word when my father died I took his place in parliment, eventually became prime minister. When The Republic was formed I served in Its senate and thirty years ago became its presidenet! And every five years the people have decided that I should keep doing it. I can't understand why, I don't think I'm all that great, but the people do. So I keep doing what they want.
Now we're here on a great occasion. I need to press this button, here, and when I do those machines out there will start welding those big sheets of metal together to form the hull of a space ship. And in a few years anti gravity units will lift this section into space to join others being built elsewhere and in time what we have built will take our children to the stars. The Voice Of The Prophets promised us this would happen. Many did not believe, but they should've believed because they saw the power of God in the things that he was able to do. And glory be to God that they saw it in time! So here! I'm pressing the button! And there they go, the first welds are being made. We're on our way to the stars, not as Muslims, not as Christians, not as The Children, but as the human race.
I'm not going to say any more, because we've got a whole bunch of children here that want to sing some of the old songs, and I'd much rather hear that than myself talking! Let us enjoy this glorious day!"
President alSadr left the podium. His grandson came up. "I wish you wouldn't tell that story!" his grandson muttered. "No one believes it!"
"Well, they should!" his grandfather answered. "By the glory of God, they should!"
He headed off to find his third wife. 75 years old or not all this excitement was making him feel young again, was making him feel very young again!