VIC'S VIEWPOINTS (Private)

Victim #10: The Plan

"Let them eat steak!"

Victor sprawled on a dining room chair with Christmas garland wrapped around him as he scrolled through his phone. As the only one home with the girl, the teen had cheerfully agreed to be one of the peasants his sister terrorized in her demented role as the Queen of England, or France, or New York, as far as he knew. The job seemed easy, listening to Rosetta's many proclamations and decrees, but the latest broke through the fog as it seemed highly wrong.

"Uh, poppet?" he said, a confused look on his face. "I don't think..."

"ARGH! The peasant shall not speaketh," cried the little girl. Her plastic crown fell off her head as she tightened her royal robes, a purple bath towel from the cupboard, around her neck. "Thou shallot not speak to mine monarchy. Off with his keg!"

"Shallot? Like the plant?" Victor's eyes narrowed. "I was going to mention the traditional translation of the French phrase, "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche," is "Let them eat cake," not 'steak.' But then you go and mention a keg? What kind of monarchy are you running, love?"

The nine-year-old grinned at her brother. "I thought more protein would be better for you peasants."

Victor heard a familiar ping and glanced at his phone just as twelve-year-old Jason sauntered into the living room.

"I'm home, Vic. Say, you're making steak for dinner? Awesome! Mom was gonna make spaghetti, but..."

Rosetta immediately hit Jason on the head with her scepter made of duct-taped paper towel rolls. "Speak only when spoken to, knave."

"You whack me again, and I'll show you where you can shove that cardboard."

Rosetta's small fingers balled into fists. "Oh, yeah?"

As the two traded insults, Victor confirmed the latest victim on Wattpad, happy as he hadn't given a viewpoint in weeks. He jumped up and grabbed the younger boy, securing him to the chair with the garland, carefully using extra. He turned and winked at his sister. "A gift for you, your Majesty."

Jason's eyes were wide with confusion. "Hey, what's going on? Lemme go!"

Victor grinned. "Play the monarchy do with you sister for a bit, mate. I've got to make a recording." Without waiting for an answer, he dashed up the stairs, ignoring Jason's indignant cries and Rosetta's royal declarations.

He padded into the bedroom, plopping on his bed as he opened the latest story on his phone. "Hmm, The Plan, written by @angiexvi. Astute name, let's see what we've got here— "

And he began to read.

*****

An hour later, the teen picked up his digital recorder.

"Welcome to a very late, Vic's Viewpoint. Please, a hundred beg pardons for the tardiness. But we dived back in as soon as ONC season ended. And my goodness, what a treat. The story, The Plan, is written by the talented author, @angiexvi. As usual, I'll go over seven elements I believe are essential to a story before blathering on about something or another. I hope you find this story as moving as I did. This one truly tugged at my heartstrings and left quite an impact." 

He grinned. "Jasper, Noah, I do hope you both are doing fine, wherever you are."

"Let's start with ORIGINALITY. For this element, we look to see if the story is cliché or does it have a few ideas we haven't encountered before. I will state for the record that this story is one of the most original I've ever experienced, and I admit, I'm new to the genre. Absolutely smashing! Your approach is quite masterful and not because of an altered history genre. I do admit that when I first read it, I thought this was another case of patricide. But how you chose to deliver the story and the angle you took (I'm sure you can tell I read more than three chapters... sorry, love, couldn't help myself) panned out as quite mesmerizing, to say the least. If I had gold stars, you'd get one on the book and your forehead. The pacing at which you authored the story only heightened my interest, pulling me in deeper. Fantastic job, author."