Floaters

by Bernette Forde

  Andre Damaree was between two minds to put forward his question. He had decided he would do the story about the Floaters saga, and he had gotten calls and reports from people who had read his online article. Lots of them are also seeing and collecting the strange shiny objects floating in the water across the globe. After serious thought, he figured he would just go ahead and asked her point of view about what was being found worldwide.

  Andrew had been standing at the very back and was rigorously raising his hand in the hope the President would point in his direction.

  After about five questions, The President finally pointed his way. 'Wow', he thinks. He couldn't believe his luck. It was as if she purposely ignored the well-known reporters and the ones in the front. He guessed she was a supporter for the underdog.

  A little nervous, Andrew spoke, “Thank you, Mrs. President, and also, congratulations on your election as President. My name is Andrew Damaree from The Online Limit District. Actually, my question has nothing to do with climate change or racial divide or any of the serious subjects I know you are about to take on in your new position. Rather, I'd like to ask you about your opinion on the strange objects that has been found recently that people are calling Floaters?”

  The room burst out into laughter. The President heard the voice of her Press secretary in her ear via the microphone adapter earpiece, telling her to shut him down. She looked about the room, and instead, she shushed the reporters and the White House staff as well as the Secret Service. “Shush,” she spoke loudly into the microphone. Everyone stopped immediately and it was completely quiet in the room, you could hear a pin drop.

  She looked directly at Andrew, “Young man, please forgive me but, what news agency you from again, and can you give me a more explanation to your question?”She asks him.

  “Yes, madam. I write for an online news agency called The Online Limit District. We report on weird and unusual occurrences worldwide. Recently, there has been a lot of 'objects' found floating in the water all over the world. Seems people are gathering them up and taking them home as a collector's item. If you have not heard of this, then it is I, who must apologize to you.”

  You could hear sighs and uneasiness within the room. Reporters were not liking the attention this unknown reporter is getting. Especially for a question that will waste the President's time. The Chief of Staff walks forward and whispers in the President's ear. 'Excuse me Mrs. President, but giving him this attention is not advisable. I will get rid of him.' She whispers in her ear.

  The President touched her arm and gently pulled on her sleeve, indicated for the Press Secretary to stop in her tracks. This was an indication to her, not to interrupt the conversation she was having.

  She replied to Andrew. “Andrew, This is my very first public press meeting and I would like to stick to the topic at hand. However, I will tell you this. I too have found one of these Floaters, as you call it, during my tour of Camp David. I would like to talk to you further about it, but not here. Please, meet me back in the White House. My aids will see that you get there.” She said and nodding towards the Chief of Staff.

  Addressing the rest of the room, “Is there any more questions for me? We have 5 minutes left.”

  Reporter's hands shot up in the air and everyone started shouting at once. Just the thought that an unknown reporter getting carte' Blanche with the President in unheard of, not to mention unfair. Some reporters had camped outside the walls of the White House just to get in today.

  Andrew on the other hand, couldn't believe his luck. As he was escorted inside, he called Tippy.

  “Hey man, you are not going to believe this but, I am being escorted inside one of the White House rooms to have a chat with the President!”

  “Are you serious right now, Andrew?”

  “Yes. I asked her about the Floaters and she said she had found one as well and wanted to talk to me further. I am waiting for her to come back now.”

  “OK, ask her about how and where exactly she found it and did she touch it. I have since found out that touching it is not a good idea. No one seems to know what happens when it's touched, but most say it has some kind of life within.”

  “It's alive you say?”

  “Well, no one really knows. They are just saying that when touched, the Floater quivers. As if it feels it's being touched.”

  “Anything else I should ask her?”

  “Just one one thing, What is her plan if this thing is alien?”

  “I am not prepared to even mention that word 'alien'.” he said as he heard the doors opening and the President cascaded in. Whispering into the phone he said, “Listen, she is back in. I will call you as soon as I am finished here.”

  “Ok. Call as soon as you can!” Tippy said. “Bye.”

  “Mr. Damaree, I only have about five minutes, so this has to be quick. ” She said, sitting behind her desk.

  “You may call me Andrew. Mrs. President, thank you for seeing me. I consider it a great honor to be here.”

  Cutting him short, she held up her hand. “I have no time for that now. I am curious, tell me more about these Floaters.”

  “Well, I can only tell you what I know. Two young boys had found this thing in Texas and filmed it. They called it a 'Floater' because it was floating in the river. Once they uploaded the video, it generated a lot of views. People from all over the world have been commenting that they also found one.”

  Ok, and why did you come here today..er Andrew? What made you ask me about this?

  “To answer your first question. I came today because you're the new President. It is considered a reporter's dream to be present to a new President's first speech. Your second question is easy. I ask you about the Floaters because someone said under this video, that you also have one.”

  Mmmm, I told no one about my finding this thing. Just my aids, and the Secret Service knew that.

  “Seems you have a leak in your armour. But, what's important here is, what are they?”

  I didn't even look at it really. Just the shiny part caught my eye.

  Mrs. President, I believe these things showing up are dangerous. I don't have any proof yet, but people from all over the world has been picking them up and reporting a strange 'quiver' coming from inside. May I ask, how did you pick yours up?

  “I didn't really. I just asked a Secret Service man to get it for me. I then saw it in my quarters and figured he'd put it there for me.”

  “Whatever you do Mrs. President, do not touch it or at lease make sure you have on gloves.”

  “Why?”

  “I cannot really say. Just a feeling I have. But, with people saying a weird quiver is coming from it is reason enough not to touch it.”

  “What if you're over exaggerating and it's just something that was generated from the earth.”

  “Then, there is no need to worry is there? Besides, a lot of people are reporting that the person who touched it, has either gotten violently ill or since disappeared.”

  “Mr. Damaree, please forgive me, but I don't think a piece of rock is anything to worry about. I only gave you my time in hopes you knew what it was. Seeing you don't, I must bid you a good day.”

  “Just one more thing, Mrs. President.”

  “Alright, go on.”

  “What if its alien, what will you do?”

  She had a discerning look on her face. 添ou're a weird one Mr. Damaree. It's not alien, I can assure you. I will have someone look at it scientifically, and will let you know what they discover. Now that will give you a good story for your online news.

  “That's the only way to get the news these days.”

  “You mean online?”

  “Yes, there is a downturn in print newspapers due to the advancement in media technology. No one wants to get out of bed to get the daily paper, when they can read it online.”

  “Is this why you report for TOLD?”

  “I report for them because no other reporter likes the weird stories. Most think its a waste
of time. I however, believe one day, I will find a story worth reporting. A good reporter follows that story no matter where it leads. Look how it leads me into the President of the United States private rooms.”

  Giving him a little smile she said. “Well, I got work to do. For what it's worth, thanks for telling me your theory.”

  It's not worth much Mrs. President, if you don't listen and do not touch that thing. You have a lovely day.

  He was quickly escorted from her office and back into the Press Office. Andrew saw the looks of the other reporters as he walked pass and all he gave them was a quirky smile.

  Turning on his phone, he called Tippy.

  “Tippy, it's confirmed. The President has a Floater. She has not touched it and hasn't even looked at it properly.”

  “Really, what else did she say?”

  “Well, I did ask her if it's possible it could be Alien. She wasn't impressed with that question, but it did get her dander up. She is going to have a scientist look at it and will call me no matter what she finds out.”

  “This is great news. You best get your next article prepared.”

  “I will do better than that. I am going to create my own video and put it online. Hopefully, I can talk people out of picking this thing up.”

  “When you're done, upload it immediately, no time for editing.”

  “I will send you the link. I am not going to stay here any longer. I'll be on the plane back to Westmoreland in an hour.”

  Andrew was back in his hotel room recording himself make a report on his latest developments. He mentioned personally speaking to the President of the United States and that she will be having scientist looking at the Floater. He also spoke about how some people have gone missing or gotten violent ill. Uploading the video to YouTube, it wasn't long before views generated. He got a quick shower, got dressed and was walking out the hotel when he checked the views again. It had tripled in views in that short amount of time.

  By the time he got home, his video was viral. Other news agencies had mentioned the fact that he was ushered in the Presidents private rooms, but they failed to report on the Floaters. He knew it was because of the question he asked at the press conference. Most reporters are generally a sceptic, but he was just hoping one might follow his lead and people will eventually know the danger.

  Later that afternoon, Tippy called him and told him a Pamela Smart was trying to get in touch with him. “It's in reference to your video.”

  “What about the video?”

  “She says she is a scientist.”

  “Ok, give her my cell number. I'd love to talk to her.”

  Chapter 3

  The Smarts

  Selena Smart had busied herself cleaning the house. The kids had left about an hour earlier, and it's been about twenty minutes since Mason, her husband left. It generally takes her about two hours to clean their four bedroom home.

  Adele, her daughter cleaned her own room, but Selena had to clean all the other rooms, including Rusty, her son and Tessa her youngest daughter's rooms. Tessa was her ten-year-old princess and was treated as such by everyone.

  Her sister-in-law, Pamela called her a spoiled little brat and Selena wasn't in denial. She loved Tessa and wanted her to have everything. Adele spoiled her too, while Rusty tolerated her. Mason, however, treated her like a queen.

  Tessa knew she could get just about anything she wanted and she wasn't about to be denied anything. Tessa was one of those kids who would throw a temper tantrum in a superstore if she didn't get what she wanted. One would think Tessa lived in the house alone for her stuff was cluttered all about the house. It was a chore by itself cleaning up after Tessa. Tessa is the Queen of her castle.

  Selena walked into the bathroom that was shared by Adele and Tessa to give it a quick clean. Yesterday, she had given it a good scrub, so today, she didn't have much to do in there. Not even Adele could keep up with Tessa in that bathroom. Her Barbie dolls were everywhere in the bathroom. This was the room that Tessa liked to use for giving her dolls a bath.

  After picking up all Tessa's dolls, she gave the floor a quick swipe with her damp mop. Lifting the toilet seat, she noticed someone hadn't flush before they left. She flushed the toilet and went downstairs to get some bleach to give it a quick wash as well. When she returned, she noticed a shiny block floating around in the water.

  'Where did you come from?' she asked it.

  Bending over, she tried to get a closer look and realized the shine was unbelievably blinding bright. It is the most odd block she had ever seen for it had no pointy corners and the colour was mauve. 'How on earth could mauve shine so bright?' she wondered.

  She then slipped on a disposable glove Adele uses for dyeing her hair. Putting her hand in the toilet, she wrapped it around the object, but it was slippery and there was a slight trembling in her hand. Startled by the trembling, Selena dropped it back into the toilet.

  “What the hell?” she cursed out loud. She is not going to touch that again.

  Then she remembered something else. There was a video online about weird objects popping up all over. She ran to her computer and found the video she was looking for. 'Yes, indeed, she thinks. 'This is one of those Floaters!'

  She decided to give her sister-in-law a call because that thing in her toilet wasn't there five minutes ago, therefore it had to have come from the water. Maybe it was in the septic tank, or perhaps it came back up through the sewers because maybe the pipes were blocked.

  However, it got there, she knew Pamela would solve that mystery. And she definitely wasn't going to touch it again, not knowing for sure where these Floaters were coming from.

  Besides, the video on YouTube shows where two young boys had found one, exactly like hers. They called it a Floater and apparently everyone had one. Even the President had found one while she had been at Camp David. She had seen it on the news.

  After receiving a call from her sister-in-law, Pamela Smart arrived at their house to have a look at what Selena was talking about. She really didn't have the time for Selena but she decided to make time or she'd be inundated with calls.

  As she gets out her car, Selena comes running out the house, “Quick Pamela, you have got to see this!”

  “I sure hope this is really important Selena. I have got loads and loads of stuff to do today. My boss has doubled my workload in the past two weeks. Ever since strange mutated fish have been showing up, our office has had to investigate what's going on in the ocean.”

  “You have a more serious problem than a few weird looking fish that hasn't been discovered yet. Wait until you see what popped up into our toilet.”

  “Seriously Selena, you called me over because you found something in your toilet? There are loads of things down in the sewers and cess pits that might come up. All you had to do is keep flushing or call a plumber!”

  It is her experience that loads of things clog up a toilet, like goldfish, tampon applicators, condoms plus other unmentionables that people flush. She had been down in the sewers under the city and seen the bile and crap discovered down there.

  Thick blobs of fat mixed in with millions of people's indiscretions. A smell so foul, she had wondered why evolution allowed our sense of smell to register the putrid offensive stench. Instead of the liquid shit, one would expect to be flowing along the giant pipes, is nothing but rat-tailed maggots and large iceberg size fat islands. The iceberg size clumps of fat are created over years and years by people pouring grease, butter and cooking oil down the pipes.

  “This is nothing a plumber can fix. It's the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Trust me and just come have a look.”

  Pamela was still apprehensive but went with her into the bathroom. Leaning over and looking into the toilet, she noticed a cube shaped object covered in sewer crap.

  “So, it's a toy of some kind. Maybe Tessa threw something in there and it didn't go down properly. Plus, look at all the gook surrounding it, one cannot make out what it is exactly.”

&nbs
p; Rolling her eyes, Selena passes her a stick. “Come on now, don't say the word gook, Pamela.” Selena corrected her. “Just look beyond the stuff. Here, take this stick and move it around. You'll see.”

  Pamela took the stick and pushed the object around in the toilet, then she noticed a gleaming shine. “ It is shining brilliantly!” She gasps.

  “Yes indeed, yes indeed! I attempted to take it out, but I couldn't grip it properly. It's too slippery and it felt weird. I swear it was trembling in my hand, so I dropped it back in and called you immediately.”

  “You absolutely did the right thing in calling me. I need to get it back to my lab and check this out more closely. I have never seen anything like this before.” Looking at Selena she asked, “Tell me, why shouldn't I use the word gook?”

  “Well, you could use it around me, of course, because I know what you meant. But, it's considered a slur to some people.”

  “Really? Well I didn't know that! Like who?”

  “Yup, it is. Like an Asian or a member of an enemy military force. It's a contemptuous term used to refer to a native of South East Asian or Korean back during the war. It is a derogatory slur to them.”