Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince by Kumar Lomash Page A

to see their prince. Allow me to officially introduce him to the hums.”, Igogo said as he proceeded to the center stage. Boriri nodded and indicated that Kevin should follow Igogo’s lead.
    Kevin followed Igogo as he walked towards the center stage. He struck as an upbeat and energetic person to Kevin. He had expected someone serious and dull, but Igogo was far from it. He was popular and the hums absolutely loved him. Kevin could see this in the eyes of the guests who greeted Igogo one after the other. He appeared to be a celebrity among the hums. Kevin was finding it hard to reconcile the declining popularity of the democratic government and the celebrity status of its prime minister.
    As they arrived at the center stage. Igogo began speaking in a mouthpiece.
    “My dear Hums. May I have your attention please.”, Igogo began his speech. Everyone in the hall turned towards the stage and there was pin drop silence.
    “Thankyou. As you all know, we finally rescued our prince from the humans a few weeks back. Thanks to Boriri who kept an eye on him throughout, we have a royal among us after centuries.”, Igogo paused. The hall was filled with applause. Kevin felt humbled by the warm welcome but he didn’t like the bit about being rescued from the humans.
    Igogo continued, “We all know that hums need king’s rule. No one understands this better than I do. I deal with those problems on a daily basis and trust me when I say that we need problem solvers in those offices not politicians like me.”
    Igogo then went ahead and described the kind of problems Hums were facing, “Our economy has been declining ever since democracy came to power and scientific progress has come to a stand still. We all know democracy is not equipped to make tough and long term decisions. Democracy is the governance of appeasement, it cannot bring in the reforms that are needed. Honestly, I can’t wait for the scholars and scientists to take over from bureaucrats and politicians. Our society has been running democracy for too long now. Let’s change that this time.”
    Igogo turned to Kevin and said, “Kevin, my prince. I wish you all the best for the elections. They are a mere formality, trust me, I know it. Like me, most of the hums have already made up their minds. Kingship is yours.”, Igogo looked at Kevin with trust, faith and appreciation - all at once.
    “How can someone be that good.”, Kevin wondered. He knew Igogo despised him but tonight he had managed to portray himself be Kevin’s biggest fan. Had Kevin not known him better he would have fallen for his gimmickry, similar to how most of the guests did.
    Igogo had said all of it with a smile but now he turned serious and continued, “But a word of caution, my friend. If you mess up, I will be waiting.”
    The hall went silent again. Did Igogo just threaten the prince? Was he so naive after all to openly do such an atrocity?
    Of course not, he was clearly joking. He knew how to keep his audience entertained. Igogo started laughing hysterically and said, “I am just pulling your leg. Don’t mind me.”. He went ahead and shook Kevin’s hands once again, then pulled him to the center and announced, “People of Mone, I give you your prince, Kevin!”
    The room roared with laughter and then applause as Kevin was given the center stage. Kevin had prepared a speech for the occasion. He had it memorised. He began speaking. Boriri and Keele knew what was in his speech so they ignored it and started chatting among themselves.
    “I don’t know about you but I am surprised. It seems as if he really wants Kevin to win.”, Boriri suggested.
    “Don’t get confused by his external remarks. He is a politician, after all.”, Keele replied.
    “I know but he gave a pretty strong statement about the problem solvers being needed in the ministry. I believe he just threw away any chance of becoming the next prime minister that he might have had.”, Boriri said. He was still wondering why