Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oil Rig and the President

In 2010 Oil Company British Petroleum (BP) encountered a disaster of a gargantuan proportion at a deep water oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. No one, not even the United States government was prepared for what happened. Several days later it was discovered that BP had misrepresented itself and there was no plan in place to stop a leak located 1-mile under the Gulf's surface.

During the days since the rig accident citizens had stood guard over the shoreline across the southeastern United States, cleaning oil from the sand and placing buoys off the shore to serve as stop-gap filters for preventing the thick blobs of oily death from reaching land. The evening of June 15, 2010 President Barack Obama went on television to share with the nation what steps his administration had taken to address the incident and what was being planned to repair the damage.

The next morning the President made plans to meet on the beach of Pensacola, Florida with representatives of BP. His intention was to square-off with the company and demand financial support for local fishermen and other business owners who were at risk of losing their livelihood. As Obama walked out on the sand in the early morning sunlight he was greeted by Tom Slethen, one of his assistants. Tom updated him with the schedule of the BP staff and then motioned to an open door where eggs, turkey bacon, oatmeal, and coffee along with some fresh Florida orange juice sat prepared for his consumption. The President took a sip of the orange juice and smiled as he thought to himself, “This is really good”.

As he placed the glass down on a table there was a scream outside the door. Everyone in the room stood-up and several people ran to the door. But as the people moved forward the President was pushed back by two secret service agents, while two others flanked him. He looked toward the door and mumbled, “What happened”? One agent reached up to his Bluetooth, touched it and asked the question. Moments later he looked at Obama and said, “Something with massive arms and a gigantic head emerged from the water. The oil sludge on the beach didn't even slow the thing down”. In the background three distinct gun shots sounded, "Pop, Pop, Pop". The agent looked around the room and continued, “Three people are dead, and another injured”. The agent turned toward the door, paused a moment, took a breath and ran through it.

Before anyone could respond another scream came from the direction of the beach, followed by a "Pop" that was louder than the previous three, the person pulling the trigger must have been much closer. Things immediately returned to silence.

It was at that moment the President opened his mouth to give direction. But before he could utter a word the silence was interrupted by a "Thud" outside the door, and then a "Bang" as the door slammed shut.

The air was sucked out of both the room and the people in it. It was as-if a paralyzed state had overcome all the occupants. With pistols drawn two of the secret service agents managed to regain their composure and began to move toward the door, but slipped as they stepped on a black, oozing, oily substance that emanated from underneath the door.

Then everyone in the room heard it - a moan that obviously was the result of pain, and it was on the other side of the door.

The agents turned and looked directly at the President.


** With all the recent news concerning the BP Oil rig accident I wanted to write a couple paragraphs, add a little twist and see what you thought. Let me know.

4 comments:

  1. You asked, I will have another entry for you in the next day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ultra Man?, Captain America can save the Gulf Coast! Thanks for the post, another entry is headed your way soon.

    ReplyDelete