The Sandman

Applause rang from the city hall to the suburbs as dark horse candidate William Pierce was handed the key to the capital signifying him as the new president. William had won by only a handful of votes as the "common man" in the presidential race promising to look out for his common folk. His radiant smile, lavish light brown hair, and chiseled chin made him a great poster child for a movement to end the line of corporate giants in office. He'd promised the middle and lower class great change, promising to take from the rich and give back to the poor, something that normally would have been scoffed at. However whereas the corporate giants could sell product, William could sell himself. He felt and truly believed in his heart the words he fed the people during his run.

            The key itself felt dirty in his hands. He'd expected as much, after the last president, an oil company CEO, left. He'd polish it he told himself, both physically and figuratively. There was so much to fix, poverty, war, equality, healthcare, housing and land development, the country was a mess regardless what half-hearted efforts the previous president had put in. The door the key went to right behind him had never lost its elegance he noticed. One detail he hadn't noticed was a hooded man in a suit standing behind him. Though it was broad daylight, his entire face was shrouded in blackness.

            The hooded man shook his head in congratulations to William from by the door, but wasted no time opening the doors to city hall to lead him to his new office. The anticipation made him feel like a school boy all over again. No one other than the president and his advisor were ever allowed to see the president's office, and he'd heard his share of rumors. "It's where he hangs the corpses of his enemies" one of William's friends had said about the previous president and his office. Some said it was where money was printed. Others said it was just a white room with a desk. Fear of the unknown sent a chill of uncertainty down William's spine, but it was quickly melted by the sensation of curiosity.

            "Welcome to your office Mr. President, I'll be your advisor during your term." The hooded man greeted. "Perhaps you'd like the grand tour?"

            Strange, William had someone in mind that he would soon appoint as his advisor but he wanted to at least hear the mysterious man out. The giant key in his hand fit snugly into the keyhole in the elegant city hall door to click it open. It slowly dragged open without sound to reveal nothing but darkness. The sunlight seemed to stop at the door opening, and no matter how hard he squinted he couldn't see inside.

            "Proceed." The hooded man stretched out his hand.

            The sunlight from outside instantly disappeared the moment he stepped into the darkness, leaving nothing but him and the hooded man. Still nothing to see in the darkness, no matter how much he poked his head in. The door closed slowly behind the two men without touch, shutting out the last of the sunlight. It must have been his eyes adjusting he thought, as the blackness faded into a starry interior without walls.

            "Is there a light in here?" William asked.

            "There is. Up the stairs." The hooded man pointed toward a previously shrouded staircase.

            Perhaps he had just over looked the stairs, but he swore they hadn't been there before. The hooded man was right though, the further he went up the stairs, the more lit his surroundings became. At the top of the seemingly endless staircase, there was a lone desk in a room only about a dozen meters around. Still no visible walls to tell if the end of the floor really was the end of the room but at the end of the lit portion of the wall surrounding the room were large glass containers of sand a few feet high. Each sand container was marked with a title, "Poverty", "War", "Economy", "Healthcare", "Civil Rights", and "Food" to name a few. Behind his new desk he noticed one large empty tank with the label "Approval". Each sand container had a red line towards the bottom at a different height for each.

            "Please have a seat at the desk and we will begin."

            The hooded man took back down the stairs to let William adjust. William took cautious steps over the floating floor to his desk, outfitted with a comfy looking office chair. It relieved him that at least he had that to soak everything in with. A few minutes later while he was lounging in the office chair examining how much sand was in each container, the hooded man returned. He was carrying with him a bag of sand about the size of an adult torso. He placed the bag on top of the desk revealing its shimmering gold contents.

            "Throughout your term in office you will use this bag of sand to fill up these containers so that they do not fall below the red lines." The hooded man explained loudly, pointing to the containers. "Each represents an aspect of this nation you must uphold, they will rise and fall the more you invest into the nation."

            The notion shocked him. A few of the sand containers were dangerously close to their red lines. The bag itself could fill maybe one container at best.

            "Er... I think I'll need a little bit more than that." William shifted through the bag on his desk.

            "I was hoping you'd ask that. Behind you is a red container, you'll notice it has filled up as you were sitting in your chair. This is your approval, your extra sand, your life. You may tap this reservoir should you need extra sand. However, if this container falls below its line, you will die." The hooded man explained.

            "Couldn't I just scoop some sand off the beach and fill up the containers? That seems a lot less... harsh." William gulped.

            The hooded man seemed prepared for that question as well, reaching into his jacket to pull out a small bag of what looked like normal sand. He opened the bag to poor it into the "War" container. The normal colored sand shifted out of the bag and fell into the golden sand below in the container. Like an ice cube being thrown into a fire, the normal sand evaporated from the container, taking some of the golden sand with it.

            "What?! The container is emptier than it already was! What is this?!" William exclaimed in shock.

            "Indeed. That is what happens when you try to cheat to succeed. It bites you in the long term. You'll notice the Approval tank is also less full." The hooded man spoke calmly.

            William could feel his hair greying already. He could have pulled it out with all his frustration. He had high plans for the nation but what was the point if it cost his life. He would never get to see what he'd built. With the limited resources he was given, he wasn't sure he wanted to see that.

            "It is your job to balance out the sand in the way you see best fit. No matter what, you won't be able to please everyone, so use it wisely for the betterment of the whole. Good luck Mr. President."