One can easily see how the present government has conspired to corrupt people’s minds, to rob us of our liberty, to steal our rights, to enslave us under a dictatorship. The first thing such dictatorial governments do is to corrupt the young generation.

I can witness the corruption even within my own family. My very son and his wife, they have turned against liberty.

“Dad,” my son said this morning, in an exasperated tone. “Please wear your face mask when you’re going out, and don’t go out if you can. It’s because it’s dangerous, not to rob your rights! The virus is a real thing here, and it has covered the world, you know.”

So dense, so thick-headed! It does not matter whether an unknown virus is spreading or not, whether it has stopped the world and killing thousands. It is my choice, and I have that right. I had taught him how our constitution gives us certain rights, sacred and never to be taken away from us, and now, he was forcing me to surrender my right, my right not to wear a mask when I was going out!

I sighed. I had tried to persuade him about this matter, but he would simply not listen. On the contrary, he had tried to persuade me out of my own beliefs, no, not just my beliefs, but the p ideal of this country!

I decided to go out and meet my friend M. He had been a friend of mine from the military and lived close by. He was someone I could talk to, someone with whom I could enjoy a productive conversation. Actually, he was now the only person who could understand me and stand up with me, since my very family was now deserting me.

Of course, I did not take a mask. Wearing it would be kneeling to the conspirators, who were trying to rob everyone of their right not to wear masks. Despite my son’s calls, I went out.

I asked for M at his house, and they said he was out for the rally for the presidential election. I drove to the meeting place and found him at the very front, full of energy as always. The upcoming presidential election would be a crucial one. We would have to drive out the present dictatorship and return to a democracy once again. Four years were enough of collectivist rule. The dictator has sat on the president’s seat too long now. It was now time for a new president, one who could return us our lost liberties.

“Hey, M!” I cried. “I knew I could find you here!”

“Here’s a good fellow!” M shouted back, amid the cries of the people assembled there. “Come up to the front!”

A sea of people, it seemed, was gathered there. The candidate we supported was shouting something about democracy and the republic.

“My wonderful people!” He cried. “This government, the present government, it’s a fraud! It’s robbing us of our rights! Enforcing us to wear face masks, shutting down all stores and gyms, the economy is dead, and still, the virus has not gone away. I promise you, dear citizens, I will bring back the great nation we know! I will make America great again!”

He is a person I can trust, who would never succumb to communism or fascism. He will make a great and powerful president. Yes, he is not wearing a mask; nobody here is. We are all free men, free of masks, free of any control from the government. We the people, we are the true citizens of this great nation who are not, and will never be enslaved, who are gathered here for the liberation of America!

***

After the energetic rally, M and I decided to eat at a fast-food restaurant.

“Sorry, sirs, you have to wear your masks. People without masks are not allowed.” The waitress, with her mask on, politely asked us to go.

Ah, another inhibition of my rights! Now, without masks, I can’t even go and grab a burger! The mark of the Beast it has become. Without it, one cannot do anything. But blessed be the ones who persevere under persecution!

M and I left, not making any unnecessary commotion. For we both knew no good would come of it. One cannot expect a productive conversation with a slave of the government.

“Ah, M, do you see the conspirators’ reach getting ever stronger and longer?” I sighed. “First it’s the airports, then it’s the restaurants; who knows? If we don’t stop this, the government might even force us to wear masks inside out very houses!”

“Very right, D.” M agreed. “They’re using this pandemic to expand their powers! The face mask is but a symbol.”

“It is dangerous times,” I said. “But they will not last for long. The election is only ten days away. If well-informed citizens act, this regime will meet its end.”

I think of myself as a person who has lived my entire life for to defend the rights given to me by the Constitution. For this end I enlisted in the army for Vietnam while all the others were protesting against it; for this end I supported Reagan and his hard drive against the Soviet Union; and for this end I supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And for this end I am strictly against the government enforcing anything on anyone for an unnecessary reason because that inhibits the rights of the individual.

And about face masks, I believe they inhibit the right of the individual.

***

A week from that day was when I heard the terrible news. M was infected with the virus. As soon as I heard it, I drove to the hospital. For this once, for my friend, I had to agree to wear a mask, because they won’t allow anyone without a mask to enter.

“M, are you okay?” I asked worriedly. “Where did you get the virus?”

M smiled weakly. The doctor had said privately that he was not a good case.

“It’s especially dangerous to the elderly.” She had said. “I fear Mr. M is in a dangerous state.”

“I am all right, D.” M replied. The IV line was hanging from him like a vine. He looked especially pallid in his white hospital gown. And yes, he was wearing a mask, a mask to help him breathe.

“But D,” M continued. “I’m a bit worried about you. I believe I caught this from last week’s rally. You were there, too.”

“No problem, M,” I answered quickly. “Look, the odds of one catching the virus is like one percent. There is no way I will get the virus. Be strong, M, be strong and recover!”

“D,” M said. “Remember the last time I said the virus testing might be another conspiracy? To make the opponents stay in the hospital and be unable to vote? But now, D, I think you should get tested. This is hard, D.” He coughed. “This is hard. I don’t want you to suffer.”

“M, don’t lose hope,” I said, not answering his words. His caring for me was great, but I did not feel the need to get tested and possibly contract the virus from there. “I will be fine. I vow, M, I will make sure my vote gets counted.”

I grabbed his palm. “Be strong,” I added again.

***

My son had to wreck this already wrecked day even more. The moment I opened the door, I saw my son standing on the doorstep, waiting for me.

The only problem was that he was wearing a mask and holding a hand sanitizer.

“Dad, please put your hands out. You didn’t sanitize your hands, did you?”

No, I hadn’t, but I protested. “What’s all this? I don’t have the virus! Why are you treating me like I have the-”

“No, it’s not this, Dad, but it’s dangerous. Mr. M, he probably got the virus because he didn’t wear any masks and went around. See, Dad, you gotta listen to reason, you-”

This time I could not stand hearing him out. This called for justice.

“It’s not because of the face mask!” I shouted. My daughter-in-law turned around in shock. “Face masks, face masks, will you please stop forcing me to wear those masks! The virus is the virus, the mask is the mask, and my rights are sacrosanct! No one ever forces me to do anything, not even the government, and most certainly not you!”

“Please listen to reason, Dad!” My son cried out, almost as loudly as me. Yes, he probably got that from my genes. “Look, look here at the statistics!” He took out his phone and put it up to my face. “Look, the chart says wearing masks decreases the possibility of getting the virus down to five percent. Five percent, that’s one-twentieth of when you don’t wear a mask!”

Ah, my son, he was showing me statistics, but he was in a trap.

“Son,” I said, calmed down a little. “Where is this data from?”

“Why, the CDC, of course!”

“That’s the problem! Can you trust the CDC, a government organization, to give us the right statistics? That is their trick to force us to wear masks! The data is wrong. There’s nothing masks has to do with viruses.” I demonstrated triumphantly. “My son, you should know learn to perceive ulterior motives, the real intention behind them. The conspiracy is unmasked, my son! Isn’t it all too clear?”

My son stood there, speechless. He probably had nothing to refute my argument with.

I stood a triumphant victor there. Feeling dizzy with success, I went into my room to rest.

***

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed. It was white, unlike my brown bed. I was in white, too. All of my senses were numb, and everything was blurry.

“Dad.” It was my son. His eyes were reddish as if he had been crying. He was sitting in front of me, his hands upon mine. His wife was standing behind him, also crying.

“I’m sorry.” He said. “I shouldn’t have forced you to wear masks or anything.”

Wait, that was unnatural of him. I could see him looking at me, as if as if he was not going to see me again, as if he was saying farewell…

“Where am I?” I asked. “When is it?”

“You are in the hospital; you have lost consciousness for two days.” My daughter-in-law said. “You, you are being treated for-” She burst out crying again.

I knew before she said it. It was the virus. It was the virus M had caught, the virus which was sweeping the world.

I had also caught it from the rally. Quite a lot of others had, too.

Wait, I had lost consciousness for two days? That means today is Election Day. I mean, tonight.

“How is M?” I asked. He would be longing to see the results.

Both of them didn’t say anything. I felt something was wrong.

“How is M? Has he recovered? He has recovered, right? Right?”

But I knew before I asked. I had the premonition already from the moment I had seen his pale face, from the moment the doctor had told me. He was gone.

My lungs hurt, and my throat as well. The morphine was probably wearing off.

“Will you please turn the TV on?” I asked. “I want to see the election results.”

My son turned it on. CNN was reporting on the final results.

Ah, all is lost-a landslide victory… for the dictator. My state, too, has also thrown its vote to the dictator. Disillusionment fills my mind; was it all for nothing? The nurse comes in and gives me another dose of pain-killer. I feel myself slipping away again, into acute pain and numbness merged together. All is lost; the nation falls again to the snare of dictatorship. Masks, masks, I will not wear it, I will never succumb. I dimly hear my son talking with the doctor, more like crying rather than talking; something’s strange here; what are they crying for? I should be crying, for the loss of the election, for the lost cause. Individuality, the great virtue of this nation! I will never surrender my rights for anything. M, you have fallen, but the cause is not lost. Another four years, another four years, and everything will be different…I have to survive; I have to survive to see the change… But I am so sleepy; I feel myself drifting away, into darkness, into blackness, into deep, deep…

Sleep.