Under the Mango Tree: 101 Tales (4)

WATCHFUL

Challenge No.76 - History Repeated.

Write a scene or story in which a character looks at a historical document.

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It was the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Caribbean Federation of Nations. Twelve months of celebrations. The federation was the dream of so many Caribbean people.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the world was reshaped. On the fast approach was an asteroid. A planet killer. There was nowhere to go. In the face of extinction, the best and worst of humanity were revealed. In the end, the impact was averted. But the close call made people and countries re-evaluate what had been.

The formation of the United States of Africa, as well as the Caribbean Federation of Nations, could be traced back to the day the asteroid zoomed by. Ranging from Belize in the west to Cuba, the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands in the north to Puerto Rico, Montserrat and Antigua through to Martinique, Saint Lucia and Barbados and ending with Trinidad and all three Guyanas, the Caribbean had finally embraced the vision, dream and hope of the ancestors.

It had taken a near-death experience to get it done. But it has been done.

Dr Mora St Cyr of the Saint Lucian Branch of the Federal Archives Authority was tasked with one of the many exhibitions that had been commissioned. For this rare moment in time, the Saint Lucia Declaration Collection would be placed on display. She'd argued that copies should be used but the Governor had informed her that the President wanted the genuine documents and if they could not be found then there would be hell to pay.

Mora felt positively ill from the responsibility and the fear of something, anything going wrong, but the display had been prepared. It consisted of the:

- Declaration of Associated Statehood with Britain.

- Declaration of Independence from Britain.

- Treaty of Basseterre.

- Treaty of Chaguaramas.

- Declaration of Republic Status.

- Declaration of Ascension to the Federation.

On top of that the Governor had 'requested' the addition of the:

- Constitution of Independent Saint Lucia,

- Constitution of the former Republic and

- Constitution of the Federation.

When Mora felt that the responsibility would kill her, she'd placed a call to the security service best suited for this delicate operation - le service de récupération des objets d'art volés*. This was a job for specialists and not the regular Federal Police.

With the arrival of the security detail under the command of Inspector Le Clerc, Mora relaxed for the first time since she'd got the assignment.

It felt almost anticlimactic when after the thirty-day exhibition nothing had happened. Under the watchful eye of the Inspector and the Director, the documents were packed away.

"Madam, I have served in many departments of Federal Security and I have seen much that has made me cynical. Today, I thank you for the honour of keeping watch over these documents that are part of the history of our people."

For the first time in two months, Mora relaxed and smiled.

© 15 May 2022

* The department for the retrieval of stolen art.