AN - Well, today George W. Bush has been reelected to the US presidency. I'm very opinionated on the issue, and I just had to get this story off my chest. Read and review, but take it with a grain of salt - please don't be offended if my opinions differ from yours. Thank you.

~Trinity

Four More Years

"Large coffee with cream and sugar, please." She looks up expectantly at the woman in the food truck, trying to maintain a friendly air and not betray her emotions.

"Large coffee, cream sugar," conveys the smiling Asian woman to her co- worker.

The girl waits for a few moments before being handed her drink. She exchanges the warm cup, heavy with caffeine-filled sustenance, for a ten- dollar bill. The woman gives the girl nine dollars in change, and they wish each other a good day. After crossing the street, the girl enters the school in a daze, depressed and uncertain.

Drinking some coffee on the way to the music room, she tries to cheer up. She knows the caffeine will kick in soon, but in the meantime, she is devastated. During rehearsal, she sings with all of her heart, allowing the warmth of the music and the coffee to course through her body. Afterward, she feels somewhat better, and is able to act happy. To ensure that this feeling will last, she buys a Popsicle and eats it during advisory. Sugar, she knows, is a natural anti-depressant, which she will need to get through the day.

Government and English classes are surprisingly fun, possibly due to the coffee and Popsicle. Still, she already enjoys these classes, and today they are having discussions about the separation of church and state combining with first amendment rights in Government, and debating about suicide as related to Hamlet's famous soliloquy in English. By lunchtime, she is downright cheerful, and grins as she reads her poem about potatoes and her creepy necrophilia story at the Open Mic. The girl makes sure to eat some cookies there to keep her sugar level high.

Math class is the worst. Despite the sugar, she is getting depressed again. She knows he has won, and it is really starting to sink in. The whole country will become more conservative, whether she likes it or not. It is the social issues that she really worries about, like gay marriage and abortion. But she cares about the war just as much, and is afraid of what he will do, and what he will not do to end it. It's not like the other would necessarily be perfect, but he would be so much better. The girl tries to concentrate on her Calculus, but it is confusing, so her mind still wanders.

Health class is better. Some asinine film about sex and abstinence is playing at the front of the room. She ignores it for the most part, helps a classmate with a Biology lab, and draws a skinny man with a perverted expression on a piece of computer paper. The girl buys a candy bar from another classmate and downs it greedily, but her sugar levels have already dropped, so she is despairing again, and has to wait for the buzz. Yet she is still hyper and cheerful, just not internally. Before she knows it, it is time for Biology, and she tramps up the stairs, weary from sadness and putting on the front of being fine.

The class watches the television, hearing that the loser will be giving his concession speech soon. The teacher allows this, but makes the class take notes when it is apparent that he will not be speaking for another hour. Biology ends and it is time for Spanish.

Another girl presents her report on a Spanish artist, then they all settle down to watch the television. The loser is on the screen, along with his running mate, who speaks about how they will never stop fighting. His exact meaning is unclear, but it becomes obvious when the loser speaks. They will always fight for the people, and do all they can to help Americans. The speech almost moves the girl to tears, because despite its somewhat repulsive sappiness, she knows that since he was not elected, there is no chance for things to change for the better, not within the next four years anyway. Class ends, and as she has been doing all day, she speaks rapidly about her opinions, this time to the Spanish teacher. They are not opinions about the election per se, but about how the government should really work. She fears that she comes off as a frenzied lunatic, but the teacher seems to understand her, as do a few classmates she has heated discussions with a few minutes later. She leaves for home, talking to some young children on the bus, who thankfully share her opinions. Once home, the girl sits at the computer, drops her cheerful air, and begins to type, allowing her emotions to get the best of her.

AN - That was my day. I'm exhausted from going on sugar highs and lows, I'm exhausted from talking nonstop and being hyper and bouncy all day, when in actuality I've felt like shit. I'm still depressed, and I've really lost some hope. Kerry lost. Republicans rule Congress. We have four ailing Supreme Court Justices who the President will probably get to replace, leading to Court decisions that he would approve of. And now we have four more years of the same, four more years of George W. Bush as President.

~Trinity