Elmo's Plan

Amy walked into the studio in her blazer and grabbed a cup of the watered-down coffee, prepared for the dull day ahead. Gregory handed her the script for the morning, and she read through it. This news seemed preposterous, but it's checked and proofread many times before it goes on the news, and pictures even accompany the screen while she recites.

Amy finds out that Sean will be at the scene after she reads, and that they're setting up now. She calls him.

"Amy?"

"Sean, is this report really true?" She asks, her tone bewildered.

"Yes, I'm looking at it now. We still haven't found out who did it, of course, but it seems crazy, almost like it's meant to be seen by children."

The silence on the line gave away Amy's obvious disbelief, even after her trusted co-worker confirmed it.

"Here, I'll send a picture." Sean assured her.

She barely got to glance at the picture of the scene before the show was airing and Kevin started to introduce her. Amy stepped up to the camera and started reciting the outrageous script. She started with the lesser of the two topics, hoping to calm herself as well as her viewers.

"There has been a widespread outbreak of illiteracy in the U.S. Children between the ages of three and five have refused to learn to read and write, determined not to learn the alphabet."

She paused, steadying herself for the news she would now have to tell; the news that seemed like it could only be fiction.

"In other news, people have reported dead animals in public places, the initial of their name carved into their side. An alpaca in a farmers' market, a Bongo in the subway station, and a camel in a grocery store are just the first reported sightings. Sean Miller is at the location of the alpaca." She finished, waiting a beat before she walked off the stage for them to switch to Sean's narrative. Melissa, the intern, walked up to her and meekly handed over another script.

"This is breaking news," she said quietly. Amy could tell. The paper was warm from the printer, and she could smell the glue-like scent. She thanked her, and Melissa scurried off.

This was more outrageous than before! She had skimmed it at first but stopped soon. This was too crazy to believe.

The culprit of the animal murders has been caught in the act. Elmo from Sesame Street was caught shooting a moose in the heart. He then proceeded to take out a knife and carve the capital and lowercase M on the moose's side. He is being sentenced to ten years in jail for the maiming and murdering of innocent animals, as well as the displaying of deceased beings.

   After Amy finished with this news report, she watched as the screen proceeded to show live footage of Elmo being escorted into jail. 

  "Elmo's world!" He chirped in a lilting singsong.

  "Includes jail." An officer responded.