FLASH FICTION

Next Stop Guantanamo

He thought breaking into the capitol building would be fun

There was a private hearing this morning with no jury. I said goodbye to my parents over live 3D holographic video. They cried, but really, it’s not like they ever understood me.

Now, I’m on a plane, blindfolded and in an orange jumpsuit with my hands cuffed together by a white garbage bag tie.

“You’re going to Cuba, kid!” a soldier whispers in my ear. “How does it feel to be a terrorist? A traitor?”

I feel the wood of his nightstick sock me across the cheek hard. The sounds of agony coming out of my mouth remind me of the way they used to spell them out in old superhero comic strips — GAK! ARGH!

Soldiers laugh at me as I sit helpless and in pain. One says, “Try uploading that to your social media!”

I’ve paid rent and then some with my seven million followers, but I just wanted to break into the capitol building, take some selfies and that would be it. AI security windows and locks are a huge pain, but haven’t you seen those heist movies where they go down into the sewer, hack into fuse boxes and turn off the security cameras? It was similar.