Chapter 17. N-Day

It was Thursday morning, N-Day morning. Nudity would be legal at noon. Gordon was having his morning coffee in the kitchen with Jane. The television news was showing a group of people celebrating in the state capital. A few of them had undressed prematurely and while the screen showed their pixilated nudity, the commentators were speculating that likely none would be prosecuted. After all, would a jury get excited that somebody was doing something that would be legal in four hours?

“We should have seen that coming,” Gordon observed. “Somebody else got on before we did because we played by the rules. Brenda suggested that we do something like that this morning, but Edna and Donald said that we should play by the rules. Well, at least there isn’t any indication that people there are welcoming this. It seems that we might still have the inside track there.”

“You need to remember that they may still be premature up there,” his stepmother reminded him. “Havercomb is still trying to find a judge somewhere to issue an order and so are some of the moralist organizations and at least one feminist one. Somewhere in this state they may find a judge who will screw this all up.”

“Well, we may end up with competing judges for a while, but we don’t really think there will be a judicial reprieve, do we?”

“I don’t really, no.”

Gordon’s cell phone sounded. He grabbed it. Jane listened on her end.

“Yes, Donald. I saw it. [pause] Jane and I were just talking about it. Well, I haven’t seen anything about any place doing a civic welcome and Brenda says that she has managed to get two commitments from cable news outlets to be here for the picnic. Plus some outlets from this state and from the south. [pause] We should be covered well but I’m not sure how well the message gets out considering that there is going to be so much going out, but Christina and Connor both have deputized several people to make sure that whatever makes the media today gets to all the blogs and forums and stuff. [pause] Edna said that she had that under control. [pause] Well, I’ll get back to you. I’ll be going from here at about ten thirty.”

“Still working out the details, I see,” Jane noted after Gordon had hung up. “Well, I hope it goes well, but you know my fears.”

“And I’m a bit afraid – make that concerned – there are just too many variables that we don’t control and I am worried a bit about what you and Maria and some others have said. I know it is possible that the new freedom will be abused. But you know me. I am basically a libertarian at heart, a rich one, but a libertarian anyway.”

“Sometimes you have to be extraordinary assets to be a libertarian,” Jane noted.


About an hour earlier Alicia Bowman had dropped her children off at her mother-in-law’s house. This was Thursday ritual during the summer. The children would spend the morning with their grandmother and then the afternoon with Alicia’s sister Carla and her children while Alicia was working for Davis and Mays. Upon dropping them off, she reminded them to keep their clothes on all day, no matter what anybody else did, until she and Tim could evaluate the day’s happenings. Derek seemed glad to be reminded and Deanna pretended not to hear.


Mary Clark had arisen and followed her usual morning routine, wearing a reddish-brown suit that she had worn many times and resolved to pay no attention to the changes coming at noon. She had received an authorization from the chairperson of the library board to forbid nudity at the library at least until the board could meet and discuss the matter and she had already instructed staff to make sure that no naked person entered.


Edna Malloy had arisen a little earlier than Gordon and Jane. She checked her voicemail and email and sent off a couple of notes to make sure that things were going as planned for the picnic when Emily and Christina stopped by. Emily was wearing business clothes. Christina was naked. They did not usually stop by in the morning, but of course today was not an ordinary day.

‘We all ready?” Emily asked.

“As much as we can expect,” her sister answered. “Something always gets fucked up when you’re doing something this big, but not usually so much as to fuck the whole thing up. It will definitely be something this town has never seen before. And Gordon says that Brenda will have the coverage at the park and that’s the kind of thing Brenda does so well.”

“Brenda’s cool,” Christina added. “But I don’t think she’s going to show it today.”

“She won’t and I won’t.” her mother noted. “I was going to, but the coach wants to be here when I do it the first time. But I know you and Justin will even though I have suggested that you might want to let the older folks break the ground on this. But you’re still going to do it, I know.”

“Damn right, we are. And I don’t understand your problem. This freedom is what our whole family is about besides making money. And Justin agrees too.”

Emily had had this argument with Christina many times before and knew that pursuing it would lead nowhere, so she let the subject drop. Instead she Edna asked whether she would be going to her office before the picnic. Edna said that she did not think so, since there were too many loose ends to tie up yet.

“But first, I want a dip,” she said. “Excuse me.”

She slipped off her robe and took her naked body to the pool and jumped in. She swam a few lengths and got up. When she left the water she saw that Christina had brought a towel to her. She thanked her niece and dried off.”

Christina looked over her aunt’s body and thought to herself that she really didn’t look bad for an old broad, but wondered how many people would travel to Conway Corners because they had seen Edna naked on television or the internet. Yes, she and Justin did have something to contribute.


Connor Fredricks, jr. returned to the Compound Thursday morning, riding his scooter to Monroe to have breakfast with Brenda’s daughters, Amanda and Aurora, and their husbands, Antoine and Cody. It was the first opportunity he had had to see Aurora and Cody since they had arrived the day before. The primary reason that he wanted to see them was to catch up on each others’ lives, but he did hope that somehow they could discuss the whole concept of N-Day with them. Although the sisters were a few years older than Connor they had always been friendly with him and treated him as if he were almost their equal. Of all the members of his generation in the Family, Connor has always been able to get along with them best. He was closer in age to Christina and Edna’s daughter Julia. He did get along acceptably with the former, but Julia seemed as estranged from him as she did from the rest of the Family.

He arrived in time to see a naked Brenda Allan entering the back door after a morning dip.

“Nice to see you, Connor. They’re in the kitchen,” she said. “Excuse me, I have to get dressed and go over to see Edna and Emily about some snafu they think they may have stumbled upon.”

He went in and, after hugging Amanda and a naked Aurora, he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Amanda was finishing preparing breakfast and Aurora told him that Savannah was sleeping, but that he could see her later.

“When they’re two, you let them sleep as much as you can get them to,: she noted, then proceeding to tell of the “famous Freemont Solstice Festival” in Seattle and how much she and Cody had enjoyed themselves a few weeks earlier walking about undressed.

“You really ought to be so excited living here,” she was gushing. “A whole state of freedom – at least for a while. Maybe we should move back.”

Her laptop was sitting on the table. She pulled up some pictures to show Connor. There were she and Cody and several other people who apparently were friends -- at least for the day –standing proud and wearing only body paint.

“I knew you painted nudes, but I didn’t think you put the paint directly on them,” Connor quipped to her,

“You really should come out and see us some year when this is going on,” Aurora retorted. “I know you’d like it. And I could paint you if you wanted me to. I did Cody and I did that girl there.”

Connor noted a girl painted to look like a police officer in uniform and Cody painted up in a green, red, and yellow diagonal pattern.

“Good work,” he commented. “Maybe I’ll have to go out next year. But what are you doing today?”

“Well, we had not planned on all of this when we decided to come out,” Cody said. “We had heard about it, of course, but figured that something would come up and fuck it up. I think that Brenda and Edna and Gordon and Donald are still wondering if this will come off. But I think we want to go to that picnic and see what happens. Wouldn’t make much sense coming all this distance and missing it.”

“I really hadn’t planned on going, even though I am curious about what will happen,” Connor admitted.

“Oh, you really ought to,” Amanda said. “We’re all going. Come with us.”

There was an interruption when they all heard a soft tap on the back door. Amanda stepped over and upon noticing the naked three-year-old boy, picked him up, planted a kiss on his cheek, and said, “Good morning, Derrick.”

Derrick’s mother Maria was in quick pursuit and took her son back. She was apologizing to Amanda for her son’s interruption when she noticed Aurora, Cody, and Connor. She stopped for a moment to greet them.

“Anna tells me that you aren’t going to the picnic,” Connor noted to her.

“That’s right. I’ve been pretty upfront about that. Mom thinks I’m being too hostile to what they’re trying to do, but I haven’t seen her or Miles doing much one way or the other. They seem quite happy to leave things to Donald and Edna. But I guess that I don’t think that they’ve really thought things through, no matter what Miles says. But if they can pull this off, I guess I won’t argue. I just don’t think it can happen. Sorry to go, but I’ve got to get some breakfast into this little guy and his brother. Stop by later if you can, Aurora and Cody. You too, Connor. And congratulations, Aurora and Cody.”

She took her boy home with her.

“Congratulations?” Connor asked.

“Yes, we didn’t get to that yet, but it was the real reason for the trip. We came to tell my folks that Savannah’s going to be a big sister in May. I just hope she won’t be a bitch like some sisters can be.”

“Just a minute now,” they heard Amanda say.

“Oh, I didn’t mean you, sis,” Aurora answered. “But as a rule big sisters can be a pain in the ass. Maybe we should ask Gordon. And I wonder what Uncle Simon thought about Anna.”

Connor cut in. “Well, congratulations you two, anyway. I imagine that you are excited and that Brenda is thrilled. Your father too.”

“Yeah, they’re excited all right. And with a few more stretch marks Amanda and I won’t be looking alike too much any more.”

“Maybe you’d better stand up again. I didn’t detect any stretch marks from Savannah.”

Aurora stood up so that Connor could see the front of her body.

“Good luck, good diet, and the right exercise,: she told him. “I do look damned good. But I don’t know that I can do it twice. Life has its tradeoffs, you know.”

“Well, so far it looks like you’ve been making good trades.”

“Thanks. Now, you going to the picnic?” Aurora replied.

‘Well, I’ve still got a couple hours. I really don’t want to just become a marketer for Edna and Donald Mays and my father who probably won’t even be there. And I have to get to work by one.”

“You get a bit puffed up there sometimes, Connor,” Amanda interjected. “You have your problems with your parents. I know. We all know and we all sympathize with you. Barbara has never had much backbone and lets your father run her and her life and you and Anna have not been so easy for him and he can’t adapt, so you want to get some air. But you’ve still got your funds even if you aren’t drawing on them and if Donald and Edna and your father and all are correct you will pick up a modest increase in your personal wealth. And if they fail, it won’t hurt too bad, I’m sure because they don’t do things rashly. We meet the money people of Missouri and they think pretty much the same, but most of them are really worse people than Donald Mays III or Edna Malloy. Hell, even entire families and fortunes there are run by people who make your father and our father look like nice men.”

“Well, I guess that I still have questions,” Connor replied.

Cody had stepped out and was returning with a sleeping toddler in his arms.

“Can you say ‘hi’ to Connor? He’s a good guy. Say ‘hi’ to him,” he was telling her softly, but the child clearly was not ready to be fully awake.

“That’s all right. Let her sleep,” Connor answered. “When you folks headed back? Brenda didn’t say.”

Aurora answered, “Well, we have tickets for Wednesday, but I imagine that it could be moved a little. But we have a small part in a show for Labor Day weekend, so we probably couldn’t move it past Thursday. But we can figure on getting together yet when she’s awake. But you might not like her so much then.”

“I’ve got a friend with a kid about that age. I can imagine.”

Cody returned Savannah to her crib and they talked a bit more. Connor took his leave in a bit after learning that Aurora and Cody were planning on going to the picnic while Amanda and Antoine looked after Savannah. He was still uncertain whether they would undress. He heard Amanda say she and Antoine couldn’t, giving reasons similar to her mother’s. Aurora said that she had no such compunctions, but Amanda expressed her fear that somebody coming across Aurora’s image might mistake it for hers. Cody indicated that he would do whatever Aurora did, noting that Conway Corners was her town, not his.






Around all of Conway Corners others were preparing for noon or for at least what they would do about it. Laura Lyon was instructing her staff at Java Juba Lee not to accept nude customers until she could see how others were handling it. Phil Eaton had done as he had planned and, aside from stocking up on some towels, figured on running his bookstore about as he had been running it.

People around the world were seeing stories from around the state and the arrangements people were making for the forthcoming legal nudity and how a few were acting on their new freedom prematurely. They also told of people from various interests who were running around court houses hoping to find a judge to put a stop to the whole thing. Two such judges were found, but their orders were soon stopped by other judges and as noon approached the idea that there would soon be an entire state in which nakedness and nudity were no longer illegal was sinking in, both locally and around the country,



Edna arrived at Central Park at about eleven. She left her car in the parking lot and walked up the stairs to the picnic area which sat about six feet higher than the parking lot, She had been on her cell phone almost continually since waking up. She had suggested to Cassandra Nix that she ought to finish her speech which was scheduled for twelve o’clock sharp by taking her clothes off while proclaiming that Conway Corners was a clothing-optional city, but she really doubted that the mayor would actually strip. She had pushed Cassandra into doing her bidding on matters both civil and personal for years, but Edna did not really think she could get the mayor’s participation on something so extreme.

Things were working out pretty much as Edna and the others had planned. The caterer was bringing the right food and the parks department had the right picnic tables in place as well as the tent for the band. The high school band was not available because school was not in session so Cassandra had arranged for a Shriners band, but the Shriners had had second thoughts and had canceled. She finally found a replacement, a polka band from Monticello which apparently was no so well booked. It was setting up. Edna sometimes liked polka, but wondered whether the crowd would love it, but in the end she figured that they were hiring the band more for noise than for music and the genre of music probably did not make a lot of difference. The public address system was set up. She had seen three police officers and knew that Doug Palmquist had to be somewhere around. One reason things were going so well was that Edna had a long history of knowing whom to hire when things needed to be done. Another was that there were few vendors who wanted to find themselves on Edna’s bad side – or on Donald’s for that matter.

There were no reliable estimates of how many to expect for the festivities, so, although Edna felt that she would be happy if one hundred showed up she had made arrangements which could work for any number up to three hundred. Although the Conway Corners Chamber of Commerce was the official sponsor of the picnic the Family was footing the bill and Edna did not want to have anybody less than happy. She had already arranged for places to any food overage – a nursing home, a community congregate dining place, and the county food bank. Extra tableware, balloons, and other things could be stored for another event.

The flyers, posters, and radio spots had announced a free picnic to begin at 11:30 to herald a new era for Conway Corners but they had not been specific on what the new era would be. However, the few that were in the park seemed to know anyway. One of those present early was Clyde, the Saturday coffee drinker at Java Juba Lee. Another was Connor Fredricks, jr. who was with a female friend of about his age whom Edna did not know.

Edna knew more about Clyde than most people in Conway Corners. Her security people had once thought he might have been involved in a theft of parts from Malloy Northern. While they had never been able to pin anything on him and even seemed to exonerate him, they had learned his real name, that he had indeed been convicted of burglary but had served his time and had not been in trouble in over fifteen years, that he lived with his sister near Monticello, and seemed to have a small, but adequate income from an inheritance and a veteran’s pension. Most people who met Clyde just thought of him as one of the strange people one meets in the course of life. Edna thought less of him than even that.

Connor approached Edna as she was in the middle of some scurrying. Edna did not need the diversion just then but did wish to be civil with her cousin. She did not know exactly what “issues” Connor had with his parents and really did not care as long as they did not interfere with her concept of family progress.

“I gather this is where we will tell the world that Conway Corners is where they want to come if they want to visit a clothing-optional place. But can you let me know exactly what is going to happen today? Is there something you are expecting or would like me to do?” he asked her.

‘Well, I don’t know, Connor,” Edna replied. “I hadn’t figured you for anything specific, but you’re welcome to help us out. Most of the arrangements have been taken care of, but we could always use somebody else to help with hospitality, helping people find seats, toting the food for the disabled and elderly, handing out information packets, that kind of thing. Gordon is in charge of that. He’ll be glad to tell you exactly what we need. As for the picnic, it is an opportunity for folks to ear and our opportunity to present the friendliness of our city, the hospitality to people who might want to come. You can see some television setting up already. We’ll have some print and some blogs here. Brenda is really good at that kind of thing. We’ll have the Chamber of Commerce and community leader speeches and Cassandra will give a speech announcing how the city is ready to accept the new arrangements and invite all people of good will to visit.”

“Isn’t anybody going to take their clothes off?”

“We sure hope so. Otherwise, it will just look like so many words. Donald and I are committed and I think that that Karen from the water park is going to come by and show it all, too.”

“You know, if only you and Donald do it, nobody’s going to get excited. But your picture is going to be all over the internet immediately, anyway. You sure you want to do it?”

“I’ve thought it over well. So has Donald. So has Christina for that matter but you know how she thinks. The family supports this effort and we need to show that we are part of the community, not just the rich folks who like to pull the strings. Emily was going to but I guess the coach has scared her out of it. What you do is up to you. I really can’t object to anybody as young as you not wanting to do it, but Christina’s the same age as you and when I mentioned it to her, she just snorted. You know, I don’t think we need a lot of naked people for the media, just that we need some and we need a lot of nice people to support them and our efforts.”

“How about the mayor? You pulling that string?”

“Believe it or not, she doesn’t do everything I say or even suggest. She’ll do what she wants and I think she’ll stay dressed.”

“So you going to do a sequential strip tease or just all of you going to undress at once?”

“Well, when noon comes and unless Brenda indicates something different, Cassandra will make the announcement that it is noon and people will do what they want to do. Brenda is on her phone and laptop non-stop now making sure that no judge has screwed things up. I learned about an hour ago that somebody had found a couple of judges who issued restraining orders, but about ten minutes ago I heard that the Court of Appeals ordered those orders nullified or vacated or whatever term those lawyers use. So I guess we’re still on. I’ve got some things to do. I really do appreciate your concern, but I need to move. Why don’t you see Gordon and see if he has something for you, if you want to help?”

Connor stepped away. He saw Edna pick up her phone and walk toward the pavilion talking to somebody. He was turning to look for Gordon when a female arm came around him and he found himself being hugged from behind by an almost naked Christina who seemed to be wearing only a wraparound skirt. Justin was with her and he seemed to be similarly dressed.

“It’s so nice to see you here,” Christina told him. “You going to go naked with us when twelve o’clock get here?”

“You know, I really don’t know. I really don’t mind nudity. You know that. But I still think that this is some attempt to inflict this on people that they don’t want it so that the Mays family can get richer. Aren’t we rich enough already, for crying out loud? I would love to be able to go naked wherever I wanted when I wanted, but do we have to market this?”

“Well, if we don’t get quite a few people to make use of the new freedom – make that New Freedom in quotes and in capitals if you listen to my mother or Edna or Donald – if we can’t get people to use their new rights, we’ll lose them, not just for us but for everybody else,”

“Do you really think that Donald or Edna cares about the public in any of this? Somehow they’ve figured out how to get a buck here. I don’t have it all figured out, but it has to be that way. My father wants to get his too, but he probably won’t be here and I’m sure that he’ll stay dressed if he does. Anyhow, Aurora and Cody are going to be here any minute and I guess I want to talk with them yet.”

“Aurora and Cody are in town?” Christina sounded genuinely surprised. She couldn’t imagine that she hadn’t known it. She went on, “When did they get here?”

“Yesterday. I guess it wasn’t connected with this, but this is not something that Aurora could miss since she is in town. Amanda wants her to stay dressed since she thinks that people who see a naked Amanda will think they’ve seen her. I don’t know how Aurora is going to handle it. I guess those of us who don’t have an identical can’t know all the issues there.”

”Well, I think that Amanda’s just a chicken on this thing, but so’s Brenda, so what can we expect,” Christina noted. “None of them look so bad that they’d do us any disfavor if they showed a bit.”

Connor noted, “Well, remember, all we’ve been talking about all the time is choice and I guess Brenda’s making hers and Amanda’s making hers and so will Aurora. Well, Edna said that Gordon might need some help with some of the details here, I’m not sure that I wanted to stick around, but perhaps I’ll take a look.”

Karen Cahill was more rushed than she wanted to be, but was on her way to the picnic at Central Park. When she had arrived at the office she had put on one of her uniforms as usual, but she had not been able to get out of the office as soon as she wished, so she found herself wearing what she could slip on quickly, a pair of cutoffs and a large man’s short-sleeved shirt which belonged to her partner. She had wanted to wear her Yankee Joe’s uniform, but Gordon Mays had suggested that it might be construed as an attempt by the water park to exploit nudity, something which might not be fully legal.

She wasn’t watching her speedometer as well as she should until she saw she was passing one of the city’s police cars. She slowed up and cruised into the Central Park parking lot slightly ahead of the police vehicle. While she was getting out, she noticed that the police car was being driven by Chief Palmquist, in full uniform no less.

“Driving a little fast, aren’t we, Karen?” he asked her.

“Uh, maybe a bit,” Karen answered.

“Well, it’s a busy day and I’ve got way too much to worry about than a little speeding that doesn’t cause an accident. But keep it slow, OK? We can’t make exceptions all the time,” he told her, adding, “You know, by the time today is over, I am afraid that your speeding will not even be remembered. I’m not sure I like this whole nakedness thing, but cops don’t make the rules and I know that our political and business community sees a lot of possibility in all of it. I’m just worried about what some nutcase may come up with.”

“You think there will be a problem?” Karen asked.

“Can’t say yet, but we sure hope not.”

Doug stayed in the parking lot while Karen went up to the picnic area.



Doug Palmquist already had three officers already in the park and two police volunteers on hand to direct traffic in case that became a necessity. He was relatively confident that nobody from Conway Corners would be coming to do any protesting, but was unsure of what people from someplace else would be doing. He had been in almost daily contact with the chiefs in Elmerton, Blacksburg, Monticello, and other cities exchanging and comparing intelligence about whatever possible disturbances the day might bring about. Across the state, police had picked up a member of a local “militia” who had indicated that it might be time for the people to organize and defend the “natural” law, but they had found no reason to believe that his fellow “militia” members either knew of or approved of his plans or had any plans, either of their own or of this guy’s. There was also some concern that moral crusaders who did not approve of legalized nudity might stage confrontations or protests, but since the matter involved the whole state there were too many targets for protests to be certain about the plans for al of them, but he suspected that most of those protests would be peaceful. He also felt good when he saw the two charter busses filled with local moral crusaders leave for the capital early in the morning to protest in front of the Supreme Court and Capitol buildings. He had already informed Jacob Scullworth and the city council that he planned on retiring at the end of January and just hoped that the city’s new embracing of these new rights did not unduly complicate his work until then.

Doug was well enough known in town that he usually went about town with an open collar, a la Andy Taylor. He knew that the mayor and Edna Malloy expected to see police present in whatever pictures the media people took, so he made certain that he was in complete uniform. He checked his watch and decided that he ought to go on up the hill to the picnic area, so he tied his tie and slipped his jacket on and started up, his radio on his belt and his cell phone in his hand, talking with Vernie in the sheriff’s office as he went.


Somehow events like this often run late and nobody had started speaking until it was 11:51 according to Edna’s watch. The speeches were starting six minutes late. Edna told Cassandra that she would pass on speaking so that the Councilman Ahrens could introduce the mayor with time for the proclamation at noon.

With two minutes to go before noon, Cassandra Nix, mayor of Conway Corners, began speaking. Her speech was brief. She told the approximately eighty people there that they already knew what the day meant, that the business and government leaders of Conway Corners had not asked for the new arrangements, but that they all felt that this provided both a greater degree of personal freedom and opportunities for the community to attract new guests and give the town opportunites to show more hospitality.

It was actually about two minutes after noon, when after receiving no call on her cell phone and seeing Brenda Allan in the back with her thumbs up, she announced that there were no longer any valid statutes or ordinances banning public nakedness, thanking people for coming, and reminding them that there was still plenty of food and beverage available. News and other cameras had been shooting everything that had been happening. Some had already turned to Christina Cedar and Justin Matteson who had not waited the two extra minutes for Cassandra’s proclamation. Cassandra looked out and saw that Donald Mays and Edna Malloy were both undressing, as was Karen Cahill and a few other people, and decided to hell with it and took her own skirt and blouse, and bra off. Edna looked over at the mayor and gasped a bit when she noticed that the mayor had not even worn panties to the event.

Connor Fredricks, jr. looked around and noticed the new public nudity. He saw no immediate need to join in himself. He was still a little confused about what it all meant. He looked about and saw his sister Anna had come with a girl friend of hers. The friend was topless, but Anna had remained clothed, He went over and talked to them.

Aurora Kennedy Jackson waited until most of the stripping had taken place and some of the news cameras were going on to other venues when she told Cody, “Well, Amanda is so afraid that people will see me and confuse us. I guess she hasn’t seen the Freemont pictures on line.”

“You emailed them to her and sent her the URL,” her husband noted.

“Our hair is different and I have stretch marks, so what is she worried about? Aurora answered.

Cody answered that he did not know but reminded her that the new freedoms might not last but sisterhood was for life, so it might be best if Aurora stayed dressed.

“But if you don’t mind, I think I’ll shuck these,” he said and proceeded to drop his cutoffs and slip his shirt off, cramming them both into Aurora’s purse.

Edna walked up to them. She expressed her gladness to see them and asked how they were enjoying the festivities. Aurora felt that Edna was sneaking a couple too many peeks at Cody’s lower area, but said nothing. It was, after all, one of her husband’s assets, although she was glad that most people liked him more for who he was than for what he carried inside his pants.

Brenda came up to them. She told them that there had been some violent confrontations between the dressed and the undressed in other parts of the state. She did not know what the details were or what the long term implications would be, politically or socially, but suspected that at the least that the Conway Corners message might be obscured.

“Fuck,” was all Edna said.

Donald had come by and heard both Brenda’s report and Edna’s reply.

“Well, we have been building all our lives. We may just have to build a bit more,” the pudgy, naked man said, adding, “but for better or worse Conway Corners has made it to N-Day. We are beginning a new era, whether this new era is a long one or just a historical quirk will have to be depend on all of us.”

THE END