The Last American Flag

old glory

© Yinglan Z.

Alex and Ginnie brought their heavily armed team up to the top of Crystal Peak. They didn’t have much time and had no hope at all. When they placed the flag here six months ago, they knew they were breaking the law, but America had been founded by a courageous group of law breakers. This time, there would be no forming a new nation, because the America they knew, the one their fathers and grandfathers knew, was gone.

First, it was “taking the knee” during the pledge in protest. Then there was stomping on the flag or burning it, and posting the videos to YouTube, which immediately went viral. Finally, at the behest of President Julian Sanders, Congress abolished the Constitution to form the People’s Socialist Party of America. Flying Old Glory became illegal.

“They’re coming.” Ginnie grabbed her husband’s arm. He said nothing and waited. The small band of resistance fighters watched the brigade of black-clad security forces and prepared to make their last stand and die with their nation as did their forefathers.

I wrote this for the 171st FFfAW Challenge hosted by Priceless Joy. The idea is to use the image above as the inspiration for crafting a piece of flash fiction between 100 and 175 words long. My word count is 175.

After a vain attempt to locate where the photo was taken, I decided on a different approach based very loosely on news items I’ve been reading over the past couple of days. As difficult as some of those events may seem and how some people view the U.S. currently, it could still be much, much worse.

To read other stories based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.com.

20 thoughts on “The Last American Flag”

  1. Nice take on the prompt. This spot is really a hidden gem. I tried Googling the place too before I went there but couldn’t find anything. This place is called Flag Rock and the flag was placed there in remembrance of the lives of the emergency personnel lost on September 11, 2001.

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  2. Interesting that we approached a similar story from differing political views – I saw the flag being raised anew rather than destroyed, with a call to refer back to the constitution of America and really embrace what it means in terms of social values. For once I think my story may be marginally more hopeful than yours! 🙂

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    • Oh yeah. My story was totally hopeless. Taking a last stand for the ideals of freedom and justice. Given some of the things I see in the news and social media these days, I sometimes feel that way. Thanks.

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  3. Yes, we did take opposite perspectives in our responses to this prompt. Unfortunately, extreme ideologies, whether on the right or on the left, are dividing and destroying this once great county. I’m hoping things haven’t gotten to the point yet where the autocrat in the White House and his minions (or lemmings?) won’t tear up the constitution and turn our democracy into an autocracy, but I’m getting less and less optimistic as each day goes by that our democracy can be saved. And I’m getting seriously concerned that if things don’t change, another civil war (or revolutionary war) may be on the horizon.

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    • In my opinion, Trump’s days are numbered. Public ire over his policies and his tweets is at a fever pitch, and I can’t see that he has a prayer or re-election. I think that even many of the people who voted for him are pretty upset (though amazingly, I know people who enthusiastically support him).

      The reason we have three branches of government is to keep any one branch from wielding too much power. If Donald Trump tried to actually abolish the Constitution, that would be more than enough grounds for impeachment, and Congress would send him toddling off to Trump Tower, leaving Mike Pence in the role of President.

      Believe it or not, a lot of conservatives were worried that Barack Obama would try a similar ploy. Utopia or dystopia is in the eyes of the beholder. Oh, and we’re a Republic, not a Democracy.

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      • “If Donald Trump tried to actually abolish the Constitution, that would be more than enough grounds for impeachment, and Congress would send him toddling off to Trump Tower.” Maybe, But from what I’ve seen from the Republicans in Congress, they have no spine and seem to fall in line to get on the Trump train. I fear that he will be re-elected. And then it’s all over but the shouting for this country.

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      • According to an article published by The Chicago Tribune last October, there’s actually a chance Trump might be re-elected, which is truly mind boggling. Of course, this depends on a lot of different variables that could occur between now and 2020, so there’s really no way of knowing in advance. After all, everyone thought it was impossible for Trump to be elected in the first place, and yet, here he is.

        I’m not a fan of Trump, but I’m not afraid of him, either. Maybe if I were a woman, or a member of the LGBTQ community, or a person of color, I would be. My wife (who is a woman and Jewish) isn’t afraid of him either, and actually likes his stance on Israel.

        I think Trump seems more powerful than he is because he has a big mouth that he loves to shoot off, and he’s not afraid to make controversial decisions. In other words, he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks of him, but gives him an enormous amount of freedom of behavior, since most politicians at least have to pretend to speak the language of their constituants so that they’ll have a political future.

        His “fearlessness” is often reckless, but it’s had the unanticipated effect of shocking the daylights out of North Korea and Iran. I seriously doubt those nations want a nuclear war anymore than we do, but under previous administrations, their (nuclear) saber rattling caused us to back down, even to the point of paying Iran and obscene amount of money, financing a whole new era of middle-eastern terrorism.

        I’ve tried talking to my son Michael (the most politically liberal member of my family) about how, even though much of what Trump does is reprehensible, maybe, just maybe, he could pull off a few good things.

        His mind can’t wrap itself around that concept, so in his thoughts, if Trump is bad, he’s 100% across the board with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

        A number of other news outlets seem to share the Tribune’s opinion, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. The one thing he’s done more than anything is to further polarize the citizens in our country, which is too bad, since we can only solve our problems by working together.

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      • “In other words, he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks of him….” I disagree. I think he very much cares what his hardcore bases — and only his hardcore base — thinks of him. And I agree with your son. Trump is 100% bad and has no redeeming qualities.

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  5. Loved how you approached the issue from an entirely opposite political POV. That’s what leads to great discourse, and hopefully, people agreeing to work WITH each other, though it’s easier said than done, as I’m often the ‘If you’re not with me , you’re my enemy’ kind of guy 🙂

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