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It was a sight I hadn’t seen in eight years: President Gray standing at a podiuenerously that dimples appeared on his cheeks He waved--beckoned--to someone out of the camera’s frame and, this time, the room full of reporters and cameras in front of him burst into sound as a pale-haired woman stepped up beside him, dressed in an immaculate suit Dr Lillian Gray
"I’ve never been one to bury the lede, have I?" President Gray laughed The First Lady disappeared into the fevered flashing of the ca of caun to shaain, to be back in this room with all of you, and with my beautiful wife She’s alive and well, contrary to wild speculation"
Nervous laughter in response
"Her appearance herelast, I can tell you that our prayers have been answered andhave a safe treatment that will rid American children of the psionic disorder forever," he said
More rus from the press, more camera flashes The kids around me had been trained too well to react outwardly beyond startled gasps of their own, or quick, covert glances at each other The majority of them just sat there in disbelief
"For years, Lillian has stayed out of the public eye so as to conduct research on this exact subject It has remained confidential only to avoid interference froue, and other do to seek out the cause of this tragic affliction, please rest assured that all children will be able to undergo this life-saving operation Detailed infor distributed to you now"
A few reporters tried to leap in with questions, shouting Lillian’s nauess, to coax her to the microphone Instead, she found a patch of carpet to stare at Whoever had dolled her up had also ed to vacuue and reports we’ve included, our own son, Clancy, was the first to receive this procedure"
A wave of dizziness passed over e beside them by a man in a dark suit His head had been shaved and covered with a baseball hat decorated with the presidential seal He kept his face turned down and out of sight, denying the cameras in front of him a shot until the president leaned away fro to him His shoulders hunched, Clancy finally lifted his head He re broken under it; never able to stand again, let alone run
With all of the terrible things he’d done, and all of the terrible things I had i to him, never had this come to mind I was shocked by the swell of emotions that rose in uish one fro smaller by the moment as his parents kept their s the reporters what they wanted: a faht, have these people drawn Clancy into his oorst nightmare
"You’ll rerao Unfortunately, like with any disease, there are relapses; and this is one of the reasons e have not felt co the children from these camps We needed a more permanent solution, and we believe we have found it There will be ards to a ti perforra already howyears, forFor your belief in the future we’re about to enter--one that will see the reeence of our prosperity and way of life Thank you, and God bless the United States of America"
Before the first avalanche of questions could sweep up and knock him off his feet, President Gray hooked his arave a friendly wave to the cae and out of the roole word in
The video ended, frozen on that last iht Renaled for us to stand and begin re-for our line to receive our meals, her face creased with iinal plan, but it was easy enough to pick up the pieces and reasse order We were near the kitchen, shuffling forward, when I felt the eyes of the PSF on round And if that wasn’t enough to dry up every s, "Shut up! Just--shut up!" to her did My voice whipped through the silence, landing like a blow across her confused face
Play along, I begged, flashing her a look Please
A small nod She understood I liftedthe way Vanessa tried to catchto our PSF as she ca the distance between us in furious strides This was et irls around us kept their heads down, but their fear and confusion polluted the air around ht me by the collar and hauledthe projector and screen didn’t even look up at the scuffle
I didn’t have to suggest anything to the PSF to get her to dragthe pots and pans under blistering water juredients for the next day’s meals turned,for the black ca the ; one near the large pantry; another over the long stainless-steel work table, where several of the kids were peeling the potatoes we’d only just pulled from the Garden