The very handsome ex-actor, Bob Perkins, was roused from his sleep by his cell phone ringing and then before he could reach it, his landline was ringing, as well. He was the president of the homeless initiative in Washington DC. His hair was sticking straight up and he jumped out of bed in his boxers. “Hello?” he answered the phone.
“Bob, we’ve got trouble! This morning, on Tic -toc and you-tube, a video was released that may cause us serious problems. Pictures of the doctor, looking at the camera, wide-eyed at the clinic in Portland lifting the bed and the body going into the abyss.” his aide said.
Bob yelled, “Well, take it off of tic toc and u tube immediately! Who is responsible for this
crime? Don’t just stand there, find the criminal and get that video off of the internet! I thought we got the tic -toc voted out so we didn’t have these kind of problems.
His aide, John, said, “It was only up fifteen minutes before we got it taken down. We have also gotten the young lady in custody who caused this ruckus. What do you want to do with her?”
Meanwhile, the mayor of Seattle, with his portly body and half bald head, was pacing up and down in his office, smoke coming out of his ears, saying, “I told you I didn't like this. That video is going to get the whole city stirred up and I am going to be the fall guy for the ones who planned all of this! Not only that, “ he said as he bent over to look at the man in front of him in the eyes, “not only that but anyone with a conscience knows that you have to watch out for Karma or reaping what you sow, or something.”
“Sir, our phones are ringing off the hook from all of the people calling in to protest the homeless solution. We are getting calls, not just from Seattle, but all over the States and from faraway places like Australia! What are we going to do? I just got a call, saying there are demonstrations happening at the capitol building and the new clinic and the park where the homeless have started gathering in anticipation of the move to the cruise ship. How should we handle this?”
Meanwhile, aboard Donald’s yacht, there was mass confusion. There were people milling about everywhere. Sue was helping two of the elderly people who were seasick because of the large waves. The cruise ship had not moved much with the waves since it was a larger vessel. She managed to get them settled in one of the cabins and looked around to see what else she could do to help.
She found Jim looking helpless. “What do we do with all of these people?” he asked Sue.
“First of all, let’s get everyone sitting down and it will be a lot calmer,” Sue answered. “Next, we will go from room to room and write everyone’s name down and what room they are in right now and what they were working on on the cruise ship. We don’t need anymore than a snack for everyone tonight, so the kitchen is not a major factor tonight. We do need to assign everyone to a bed and we will most likely, by the looks of things, have to sleep everyone in shifts.”
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Jim said, “I would like to start the list. Some of the supplies from the launch were loaded on here, as I knew we would probably need them and they were intended for the ones here, as well as the ones left on the ship.Those supplies need to be sorted and put way so we don’t have all of these boxes in all of the aisles. What do you think about Leonard and his muscle men sorting all of them out?”
Sue said, “That’s a fine idea and thank you for volunteering for making the lists, but I think Karen would actually be able to do that and you could help me with organizing, if you don’t mind.”
Jim agreed and before they knew it, all of the elderly had been assigned sleeping quarters. The ones who would be awake on the first shift, could do some kitchen prep to get things ready for breakfast. One of them would make sure all of the bathrooms had supplies so they would be ready for use. Jim went and checked on Donald to see if he needed anything. He brought Donald a cup of coffee.
Meanwhile, aboard the cruise ship, Arnold, the purser, watching the movie, laughed at the old folks sneaking out of the old folks home and going swimming at the mansion next door. As the laughter died down in the room, Arnold looked around and wondered why so few people were at the movie tonight. He figured they were tired and had gone to bed early.
The next morning, he had to go to the shop first thing to get some tums. “I always forget what popcorn does to my stomach. Man, that hurts!” The shop was locked up tight so he waited about fifteen minutes and then sent someone to check on Karen, to make sure she was alright. While he waited by the shop door, Lucy, one of the kitchen helpers came up to him and asked if he had moved Nancy out of the kitchen and said, “If you did move her, please reconsider and send her back to the kitchen. We really need her for breakfast prep.”
Arnold said, “No, I haven’t moved her out of the kitchen. Could you go to room number 216 and check on her to make sure she is alright?” The steward returned from Nancy’s room and reported that she wasn’t there and the room looked as though she had moved out! Arnold snickered, “She probably has a boyfriend and moved in with him!”
Lucy, the kitchen helper, returned and reported that Karen didn’t come to the door, so she had to go in to check on her. “And when the door opened, I looked around but there wasn’t anyone there. It looked like she left in a hurry because the room was a mess. There were stockings hanging from the shower rack and some dirty plates on the dresser. The bed was not made either. “
Arnold said, “What is it with these elderly folks? You give them a great movie night and then they turn all flakey the next day.” After breakfast, Arnold received the news that two of the teachers were missing and the children were tossing paper airplanes, spitting spitballs and yelling. “Why are we missing old folks? What is going on?” he asked no one in particular.
His personal steward approached him and said, “Sir, we have got a problem. At latest count, there seem to be 50 people missing. Where could they be?”