The Political Heist

1. Midlife Crisis.

(noun: midlife crisis; plural noun: midlife crises
a loss of self-confidence and feeling of anxiety or disappointment that can occur in early middle age.)

Alexander King stared out the window of his top floor office with a hollowed look in his eyes. His blue eyes looked exactly how he always felt,.. Empty.

According to the average person, he was living the life. A good paying job, a luxurious house, a beautiful wife, two amazing kids, a German car and a dog.

He loved his dog.

At the tender age of 39, perhaps he wanted more for his life. He remembers once wanting to make a difference, and be THE difference. Like every other young hopeful, he had big hopes and dreams.

Life had other plans.
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Young Alex sat in the corner of his third grade classroom on a green colored stool as he absent mindedly listened to his classmates drone on and on about what they wanted to do when they became older. He didn't care much for the topic though, so he was bare bored. His father said that he would have to learn the family trade, and he settled for that, probably not understanding his decision fully.

The Kings had an unnatural talent with numbers, something that the young boy had picked up quickly. While his friends still used abacuses to sort through their work, Alex's mental math skills were already at the level of a fifteen year old.

"Alex, it's your turn to speak up. Tell the class what you'd like to be when you get older."

Eight year old Alex scrunched up his nose and moved his pointer finger towards his chin, deep in thought, although not necessarily about the topic at hand. He was just thinking about what color his farts would be if people could see them.

Time passed and his teacher grew impatient. "Alex, who do you think you are to keep us waiting like this? Speak up!" She said irritatedly as she twirled a pen in her hand and popped a stick of gum out of her desk drawer that she'd confiscated from one of her students earlier.

A moment passed.

"Miss?" He paused, and then in a voice that is barely audible he says "why are you asking me what I want to be? Why do you care? Isn't this something my mummy and daddy choose for me?"

"No Al," she rolled her eyes, "One day, mummy and daddy are going to let you free like a bird and you'll have to make your own choices. This will be one of the very first!" she really tried to sound enthusiastic about it. Fortunately, she was talking to a bunch of kids, otherwise any other adult would have been able to notice the regret edged in her sarcasm. If that wasn't enough, one merely had to gaze at the mini bar of booze in her bottom desk drawer to know that she was going through something. She repeatedly told the kids that the empty bottles of alcohol were for an art project whenever they caught sight of them.

Alex had always been a sheltered child. Everything was done for him and he only fell a little bit short of being called spoiled. He wasn't snobby, nor presumptuous. He simply had a 'go with the flow' mentality and never asked questions. He did as was told and only spoke when spoken to. As he grew older year by year though, he had started to form his own opinions but out of respect for everyone else, he thought it best to keep them to himself.