eisenhower (or: "A view on postwar history from 1958")

On the evening of September 21, 1958, Sonny Rollins was alone on the Brooklyn Bridge, practicing away at scales on a tenor saxophone as it slowly grew dark around him. 

"Hey mister, what'cha doing?" asked a passing boy.

Sonny answered, "I'm fighting an atomic monster." 

"You liar!" said the boy.

At precisely the same moment, President Eisenhower was right in the middle of the New Mexican desert, commanding the troops as a heroic battle to the death unfolded against a horrible atomic monster with four gigantic claws. The Secretary of State explained the ground situation in an exhausted tone: "Mr. President, at this rate the Earth will be annihilated. Our weapons are simply no match for it." 

"May God forgive us. For we have brought forth unto this world that which was never meant to be," muttered the President.

The atomic monster snapped its claws as it advanced, trampling tanks and artillerymen alike.

My 9-year-old self yelled to my mother's back while she was in the kitchen. "Hey, are the donuts ready yet?"

- m