Fred had been working at the deli for three years. He did the work well. He was friendly, enough, to the customers and his coworkers, but everyone thought of him as the quiet type. Bill, the deli owner, even gave Fred a raise or two. Not that Fred wanted them. In fact, he had saved up quite a bit over the years. The funny thing about money was, the more you save, the more you have of it. Fred gave his share of the rent to his parents, bought a new computer and a smartphone, bought some clothes from a mall, and...that was it. He had to pay taxes though.Susan and Charles hooked up. There was a string of fate that connected Susan to Fred, but Fred had cut that tie early on. Not that he thought badly of Susan, but Fred didn"t like her that way. He had no idea why she would be interested in him, either. Maybe she thought he was mysterious or something. As soon as Fred cut the tie, though, Susan would always remark, in his face, "Fred, you"re boring." Fred didn"t mind. Much.
Charles had always had a crush on Susan, but he never made a move. Fred just cut that string of Charles"s indecisiveness, and Charles finally asked Susan out on a date. Apparently, it went well. They would always act lovey dovey at work though, which annoyed Fred to no end.
The three of them and Bill, the deli owner, had built a little bit of a camaraderie over the years. They would joke around, bicker about small things, and generally have a good time. Fred remained pa.s.sive, but he would join in the fun, once in awhile. He even initiated some jokes of his own. To everyone"s surprise, even himself.
Fred had "changed his setting" on seeing people"s fate to look out for only high school dropouts, some small tragedy like car accidents, or big fires, or heinous crimes like **** or murder. He would change fates as he walked around his neighborhood. As the years went on, his neighborhood became a very safe place, and people couldn"t help but remark how studious the kids were. The local schools improved, not because of new after school programs, or anything like that. The students just studied hard. There wasn"t a single high school dropout in the high school closest to Fred. Fred was very happy about that.
Fred moved out of his parents" place once he saved up enough to rent out his own apartment. He enjoyed independence, doing his own dishes, his own laundry, making his own dinner. For fun, on the weekends, Fred would summon the knife and wave it around and mock fight. He certainly couldn"t, and didn"t do that in his parents" place. Fred lived nearby his parents, so he would visit them often, then less and less. Even his mother was impressed at how well Fred was managing his money and budget. She seemed okay now with him working at a deli. They talked more, and more smoothly. His father told Fred, "As long as you"re happy, it"s all fine." Fred agreed.
Then, one day, the topic of the local county election came up.
"It"s going to be Buck Wildley"s win again this year. He"s had a hold on this county forever." Bill, the deli owner, said.
"I hate that guy. He never does anything that helps people, in any way. It"s a racket." Charles snorted.
"Did you hear about Maria Cortez? The superintendent of the schools? She"s running this year! I like her!" Susan remarked. "She must be doing something right. I mean, look at how well the kids are doing."
Fred grinned. And didn"t comment.
"Who are you going to vote for, Fred?" Bill, the deli owner, asked.
"I don"t vote. I"m a registered liberal, but I never voted." replied Fred.
"Well, that"s ok. It"s all a racket anyway." Charles said.
"I really hope Maria wins, though." Susan.
Fred thought about it. He did wonder if he could change the election results. He didn"t know why, or how, or if it was even right to do something like that. It felt very undemocratic. He was curious to see if the knife would comment on it.
It didn"t say anything.
Fred knew how corrupt Buck was. He"s been in office for as long as he could remember, and Charles was right, he was all bulls.h.i.t. Part of the political machine. Backed by lobbies upon lobbies. Fred had no idea how politics worked, or policies or such things, but if he could make his neighborhood better, maybe it was time for a change. Besides, how different was changing one little local election from what he had been doing all along?
Fred became enamored with the idea. He had a power, and he had no direction or goal or mission with it. The knife told him to do as he saw fit. And it was a very subtle power. He couldn"t be some sort of crime fighting superhero, or even go on a world conquest. The world wasn"t like that anymore. It was all corporations, banks, money, and political parties. It was an era of ma.s.s democracy, and news cycles, and social media. Sure there were wars and strife still, but where Fred lived, it was all very orderly and set in its ways. Business as usual.
Fred watched the TV in the corner of the deli. Maria Cortez was saying some stuff on the local news. He saw that she was going to lose. Well, he thought it, and that string snapped. And something snapped in Fred as well, but he didn"t know it. Yet.