Tears

                                    

                                          
Let us begin at the moment where everything fell apart. We set the scene at Radio City Music Hall in December 2038. The Rockettes are performing a Nutcracker related dance when the doors burst open. One man holding a very large gun enters. He has already shot and killed most of the people in the lobby of the building in order to reach the theatre. I'll let you imagine what happens next, as I can not bring myself to retell it.
                          
Fast forward to the next day. We are now in a hospital waiting room. We find a twenty-four-year-old woman, full of opinions. Her phone vibrates in her pocket. 
                          
	"Hello?"
                          
	"Maya? Hi. It's Bennett, Bennett Baker."
                          
Maya went to grade school with Bennett. At the time she played nice with him, but she kept hidden her deep hatred for him. He was an obnoxious Republican who never failed to express his opinions against women, same-sex marriage, and many other controversial topics. Maya disagreed with almost all of his opinions. He was Republican, which she was fine with. Maya had no intentions to run around telling people what opinions they should have, she just hoped he would be more considerate of others feeling. She was considerate, and she hoped in return people would be considerate of her, but Bennett never was. Maya is one of the few good people in the world, Bennett is one of the many awful ones. Maya has grown up to be an activist. Bennett is a congressman representing the state of New York. Now, on with the phone call.
                          
"Hey, Ben."
                          
"Look I wanted to offer my condolences for your brother. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family."
                          
Maya's brother was killed at Radio City.
                          
Maya chocked back tears.
                          
"Your thoughts and prayers won't resurrect my brother."
                          
"I know, but what else can I do, Maya?"
                          
"You're in the House, Bennett. Three words. Stricter. Gun. laws.
                          
"Two words, Maya. Second. Amendment."
                          
"I have to go, Ben, got a funeral to plan." 
                          
"You can cry, Maya. It's okay."
                          
Ben continued to hold the phone to his ear even after the line went dead on the other end. Maya, however, moved on quickly. The next day she was giving a speech at a rally in Times Square. 
                          
"Thoughts and prayers? How about changes in gun control laws?"
                          
The crowd began to cheer.
                          
"How many more people will we have to mourn before someone does something? Yesterday someone told me, 'It's okay.' That is the most inaccurate thing I have ever heard. What about the is 'okay?' This is most certainly not 'okay.' None of this is 'okay.' People are dying. Innocent people are being shot because our government refuses to help them. They continuously throw the Second Amendment in our face. We never said that nobody can have a gun. They constantly act like that is the idea we propose. They put words in our mouth. We are not entirely against the Second Amendment. We do not say banish all gun control laws. We say make them stricter. Do not tear rifles from the hands of the innocent, but make it harder for the mentally ill and threatening people to buy a gun. The government refuses to take action resulting in many deaths. Why should innocent people, like my brother Harrie, have to pay for the grave mistakes of the government. Save your thoughts and prayers. No matter how strong they are they will never bring back my brother, all we ask is that the government takes some action and initiative. We ask them to own up to their mistakes that have cost tens of thousands of lives, and make necessary changes to government policies in order to prevent any more further damage."
                          
The crowd cheered louder. 
                          
"Thank you. Thank you so much. Harrie would have been so proud." Maya felt tears pool in her eyes, and unlike the day before when she was on the phone with Bennett, now she let the stream down her face.