Radically Happy

Sequel to Hello, Death (Hardest Difficult Parts)

It is a city of contrasts. Fabulous wealth built on innovative technology, abject poverty leading to reckless crime. Holding it all together is one man, a Judge, standing outside the Justice Department. His helmet conceals his features, but not the emotion of supreme confidence radiating from his erect posture. Clearly, this is a man who has seen everything, and fears nothing.

Kid: Excuse me?

The Judge looks down. The young Indian-American boy who had spoken looks up at him.

Kid: I’m new here. May I ask you a question?

The Judge smiles grimly. The boy must be new to this part of the city. There are few immigrants in this day and age, and none so foolish as to allow their children to walk the city alone.

He crouches down and tries to be less intimating.

Judge: Sure, kid. What do you want to know?

Kid: Are you in charge here?

The Judge smiles indulgently. The boy must be a little slow, to be so innocent and curious in such a dangerous place.

Judge: I am sure it looks that way. But I work for the Chief Judge.

The Kid looks around. His eyes are surprisingly quick and perceptive.

Kid: Then why does everyone act like you are the ultimate authority?

The Judge frowns. He looks around, and notices the unconscious deference, even fear written on the faces of the other citizens. The boy is smarter than he thought. He ponders the unfamiliar question.

Judge: Well, I guess because I am the only Judge most of them ever see. It is my job to keep the peace, by doing whatever is necessary. The only ones who ever meet the Chief Judge are the criminals I arrest. Those [coughing awkwardly] who let me arrest them.

Kid: Then what happens to the oth…. Oh! [sadly]

The Judge nods sympathetically.

Judge: Yes. I… am judge, jury, and executioner. It is not a pleasant job, but it has to be done.

The Kid looks at him penetratingly.

Kid: Why?

The Judge is taken aback. Surely even the slowest schoolchild understands that this is just the way things are. Perhaps he really is an immigrant. But from where? Surely every city that survives relies on the Judge system. Right?

He looks again at the boy, who is waiting patiently for an answer.

Judge: I… I don’t know. I guess it was the War. Things were… messy. Someone had to impose order, so we could save as many as we could.

The boy looks at him sadly.

Kid: So then… why you?

Judge: [shrugging] My father was a Judge. He trained me. I am good at it. It seems like the best way I can help.

Kid: Help what?

Judge: Help people stay alive.

Kid: Why?

Judge: [smiling] So they can live out their lives in peace.

Kid: [shrewdly] Even if you can’t?

The Judge is taken aback. Offended, even.

Judge: [suspiciously] Just what do you mean by that?

The boy sighs, sits down on the edge of an ornamental planter / barrier, and pats the ledge next to him. The Judge feels slightly ridiculous, but is curious enough to sit down next to him.

The kid is silent for a long minute.
But there’s something in the boy’s face that keeps Judge from leaving, or even speaking. Finally the boy speaks softly, almost to himself.

Kid: You’re right, by the way. I am not from around here. Or any place you have heard of, though you may have seen it in a dream.

Judge frowns. The boy must be mad. But then the boy looks into his eyes with such presence and clarity that the Judge starts to wonder if he is the mad one…

Kid: I must confess, at first I thought you were the problem I had to solve. But then I realized you were the person I came here to help.

Judge snorts.

Judge: Look, kid, that’s really sweet. But unless you’ve got a shield of invulnerability, or some magical device that can turn all the criminals into law-abiding citizens, I’m afraid you can’t help me.

The Kid smiles gently. Almost indulgently, as if he were the wise parent and Judge the naive child.

Kid: Not quite, though you are closer than you realize. But that isn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean help you do your job. [he looks Judge in the eye] I meant help you live your life in peace.

For some reason, this fills Judge with a towering rage. He snarls a terrible oath and stands up, towering over the child.

Judge: Peace? Peace?! The only peace people like me ever find is on the other side of the ground. Until then, I have to sacrifice myself every hour of every day, dealing mercilessly with every threat so everyone else can enjoy peace. [softly] Because if I am too slow, someone dies. [softer] And if I stop, everyone dies.

Judge looks downs, unable to look the child in the eye. He hears the boy stand up, and is surprised at the pang in his heart. I’ve scared him away, he thinks bitterly, with a surprising amount of self-loathing.

But then catches his breath as the child reaches out and takes his hand. Judge looks up sharply, and is surprised to see tears in his eyes.

Kid: I know. I am so sorry you had to suffer like this, but it was needful to bring us to this point. But I am here to tell you that your years of hard service are over. Your world is about to change, and you need to get ready so you don’t miss it.

Judge: Kid, the only change that ever happens is that things just get worse. And that [bitterly] I’m already prepared for.

To his surprise, the boy stretches up on tiptoe and pats him on the cheek.

Kid: I know that’s how it looks. And I am sad it took us so long to get ready. But the belief that things can’t get better is the very thing that is changing… [deep breath] and I believe it needs to start with you.

Judge’s breath catches in his throat. Something unfamiliar is pounding in his chest. Something dangerous. Deadly, even.

Hope.

Judge: Kid, no! Don’t torture me like this. I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but this isn’t a gift. Fear is the only thing that keeps me alive. That, and [huskily] the knowledge that if things ever did get better, it would have to start by getting rid of people like me.

He can’t believe he said that. He can’t believe he even let himself think that. But immediately he knows that it is true.

To his surprise, the child laughs. Not a cruel or mocking laugh, but a spontaneous outburst of innocent glee. Judge is stunned speechless.

Kid: Ha! So that’s it!

Judge: Wha….

Impulsively the child grabs him in a fierce hug. Judge, without thinking, hugs him back. Somehow… something inside him starts to melt.

In the back of his brain, a voice shrieks that this is all part of some villainous plot. Or else a dangerous distraction that leaves him vulnerable to his many enemies.

But another part says: if I have to die by letting a child love on me… then at least I will have truly lived.

They part. The boy looks up, smiling. Judge, to his surprise, smiles back. No longer grim or intimidating. Just — bizarrely — happy.

The child grabs his hand and starts tugging him. Judge, like a man in a dream, allows himself to be led away.

Kid: C’mon, hurry. You were the one we were looking for.

Judge: “We” who? Do you mean your parents? Why were they looking for me?

Kid: Because it is time to save the city. And it had to start with someone who knew just how impossible that is, and yet…

Judge: Yet what?

The kid looks up at him, his face radiant.

Kid: And yet… dares believe like a child. Or at least, in one.

This stuns the Judge like a rookie who just took a taser to the face. He doesn’t resist as the child drags him around a corner…

And they vanish!

To be continued