BLIND EYE: By Henry Peter Gribbin
Monday, January 16th, 2012I am always amazed at how people never notice what is right in front of them. I guess they are too concerned about the stock market or their jobs to notice that vampires, werewolvesand wizards walk among them. I was born and raised in the country, and my old pop made sure that my brothers and I knew who or what kind of being was in our general vicinity. He taught us that not all those shooting stars we saw in the night sky were shooting stars, that some of them were visitors from other worlds. He was considered an eccentric by some of the town folk, but other people were of the opinion that he knew what he was talking about. My old pop also made sure that all his kids knew their way around the city. He had relatives that lived in a nearby metropolis, and every summer my brothers and I would spend some time with them. So while we all could read a compass and a map, we all could read a transit bus schedule and not get lost. I have to tell you that that those summers in the city were an eye opener. I never saw some many different kinds of creatures in my life. Vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards and aliens walking the streets with impervious humans. It was really amazing.
Now, I do have to tell you that sometimes things can get a little testy between all these groups. Humans at one time had a tendency to burn witches at the stake, and at one time they also hunted vampires and werewolves, back in the days when humans were more aware of their surroundings. In recent history vampires and werewolves have at times gone to war. Groups of vampires, called families, often had turf disputes with groups of werewolves, called packs.
The biggest vampire- werewolf war started in 1939 and ended in 1945. Pop told me and my brothers all about it. You see, two of the most powerful vampires in history, a celebrated First Lady and one who called Number10 Downing Street home, took on the most powerful werewolf in history, one who called Berlin home. It is interesting to note that World War ll did not start because Germany invaded Poland but because a German werewolf eloped with a British vampire. I wonder what all those veterans who fought in that war would say if that fact ever came out. Pop was a teenager back then, but his pop told him about all these events. Grandpa always said to be careful about who you vote for, especially if one of the candidates is a werewolf or a vampire. Power is a narcotic for these two groups.
Now, the point of this story is that my pop’s cousin was running for re-election. He was a congressman in our district, and although he was a crook he did do some good for our part of the state. He brought in some jobs and took care of the elderly. His opponent was a young fellow new the area. One look at him on one of his television ads said it all, vampire. The one thing about vampires is that they can compel a human to do their bidding. In other words, the longer he campaigned the more people he could compel to vote for him. Pop and my brothers and I got together to make a plan. We wanted pop’s cousin to win. This old congressman did the family a lot of favors, and a congressman carries more clout than the local Chief of Police. My brothers and I were for getting rid of the vampire and dumping the body. Pop was against this idea. He thought for a moment and came up with a great idea. My brothers and I went for it, and the next day we put the plan into action. Actually, it was a very simple plan. All we did was get to a scheduled campaign site early to get front row seats. We dressed in capes and plastic fangs and had our hair slicked back. Whenever the vampire candidate appeared he always saw us there in the front row, just sitting there and not saying a word. This seemed to unnerve him, and the gimmick spread. Other people started wearing costumes to his events, and his campaign soon became a joke. He dropped out of the race, and pop’s cousin won easily. My family did make a powerful enemy in that vampire and his family, but that is another story.
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©2012 Henry Peter Gribbin
