Exhibit

    "Mommy, look!" exclaimed a toddler of four as he waved and pointed his finger towards the center of the mall upon entrance through the sliding doors.
    "Now, now.  Don't be pointing at anybody.  That's rude," replied the woman of her mid-thirties easily.  "That's just not very nice."
    "But, Mom...!"
    "We shouldn't go getting ourselves involved in other people's business.  Now, c'mon, we have more shopping to do."
    The toddler sighed heavily as the steam from his breath continued to rise and swallow his toboggan from the cold early-December air that fought its way to attack the other Christmas shoppers.  The Mom and child walked casually towards the excitement, and gracefully avoided the mob smiling and apologizing their way through the halls on their way to the department store.

    The large group of people around the mall center gradually dissipated as the work crew moaned and groaned without prospering in their mission.  One of the working pair rose up and dug for a handkerchief in his pocket.  Despite the cool morning, sweat flowed off of the workers as a fountain.  "Whew," the standing worker sighed, gasping for air and running the handkerchief across his brow, "they certainly made these things to stay where they are!  I just don't understand why, though.  Who would want to uproot a perfectly good kiosk?"
    His partner just gave an affirmative grunt as he continued to strain over the wrench connected to one of the final bolts holding the kiosk to the floor.

    Everybody that walked by eyed the working pair suspiciously.  Were they supposed to be there?  What were they doing?  Why would anybody be razing a kiosk that would be perfect for another business?  Questions hammered the passer-bys' minds as they looked for a reasonable conclusion from their surroundings- looking for appealing signs that say, "Coming Soon!"  But nothing relieved their curiosity.  Everybody in the mall was dumbfounded.

    The town's curiosity died down as Christmas Day approached closer and closer.  Even though they still occasionally wondered why the kiosk was taken away, they pushed the curiosity to the back of their minds, sufficed to believe that it was merely a simple matter of life.   Christmas brought much joy and cheers to those with family, and the usual loneliness to those that were incapable of gaining attention.  It was a usual Christmas, and the thoughts that flooded everybody's minds- those of sugarplums and toys- took precedence over the kidnapping of the abandoned business booth.

    Christmas ended with the usual disappointment to those who wouldn't accept the good will of the holiday.  With wrath, anger, and unthankfulness, people stormed the stores returning all the unwanted gifts that had been bought for them with a thought of joy in mind.  The worst of them were out during the first day after Christmas, dreaming of a better present, a better toy to replace the refuse they had been given.  There was an abrupt skip in each of their evil natures from surprise as they each passed through the sliding doors.  There was a cage there, right in the center of the mall.  It was there to replace that which had been taken away weeks ago.  But it was such a small cage.  Hardly could it even be called a dog kennel, but the bars rose all the way to the roof.  It was apparent it wasn't for a dog.  A mascot of the mall's?  Nobody knew, for upon examination of the cage, it was empty.  The cold tile floor matched the pattern of the rest of the mall, but there were no hints as to what was going to be placed there in captivity.  Locksmiths were called upon to open the bars, but to no avail- nobody had ever seen the likes of these metal bars.

    The same routine of the town continued.  There was a big fuss and what-to-do over the new addition to the mall; and again, the first few days were highlighted by crowds peering into the cage with curiosity, only to feel cheated by finding nothing in the cage nor any evidence to show when and what would be placed there.  And, within days, the crowds dissipated into the same curious passer-bys; and weeks later, it had only been an imaginative notion pushed towards the back of everybody's mind.  People began to quit considering the cage as a nuisance, but simply as the trademark of the mall.  It was just there because it was life.

    From outside the mall, shouting and yelling could be heard.  "That's inhumane!"  "You cruel people!"  "What is going on!?!"

    It had only been ten minutes since a trio of people walked in.  There was nothing provocative about them- just the typical out-of-towners.  The two in front had an unusually large smile while they were flanked by one with a solemn visage and gait, appearing to be lead to his demise.  The store clerks were suspicious of the trio once they had just walked up to the cage and stood silently.  They seemed to know something about the trademark of the mall that the townspeople didn't.  Most visitors gave the usual curious glance into the cage; but these people were excited by it.
     After standing for a minute with their noses right up to the bars, the unusual character on the left casually rested his right hand in his pocket, but immediately removed his hand, producing a set of keys.  The cage door was unlocked, and without any exchange of communication amongst them, the third, sad, person walked through the door.

    He wasn't startled when the door closed.  He didn't jump, holler, and fuss.  Nor did he flinch when the two companions left without saying even a word.  He followed through as if it were a command that he practiced into an art.  The lack of emotion, the blank stare- he had to have had some previous idea of what was happening.  Why hadn't he run away?

    At first, the townspeople were stunned.  They couldn't believe their eyes.  One soul was brave enough to chance a conversation with the stranger.  "Why...?"  a retired man of the town stuttered as he fought back the other questions that flooded his mind.  The man squinted his eyes and shook his head- it was merely a boy of 20 in the cage.  He turned around, to the men that were just about to exit the building.  "WHY!?!?" the man yelled after the duo.  Without a response, the duo exited the door, turned down the sidewalk, and was never seen again.  The courage seemed to be contagious.  Everybody began yelling, asking questions, and accusing the absent duo of their wrongdoing.  But all of it was futile.  The words were wasted, and the excitement disappeared after a few days.  And in a few weeks, the boy in the cage was merely a statue, disregarded by the town folk.

    Summer had just begun, and there were only a few that were still sympathetic to the caged boy.  They brought him food, which he refused most humbly.  But still, they brought it.  It had been many long months since he had been brought there, and nobody had seen him eat a thing.  They were beginning to learn there was something special about this boy in the cage.  Was he even a real human being?  He hadn't even grown a whisker on his chin; nor had he moved when anything happened.  People tried to form distractions that were horrifying enough to make him flinch, but he still stood motionless, never resting from his upright position.  Anger was even stirred in the people for they didn't know about this unusual boy.

   One unbridled soul decided he was going to do a good deed.  A disturbing deed.  He was going to put the emotionless boy out of his misery.  He loaded up a gun in his jacket, and made a trip to the mall.  "Boy, this'll only sting for a second.  But, doncha worry, you'll be going to a better place than this."  The disgruntled man raised the gun.  As he took aim, shouts rang out from all around from those appalled by the disturbing sight.  A few were courageous enough to run towards the man with the gun, but they didn't make it in time.  A loud shot struck out through the entire mall as the man holding the smoking gun smiled.  He had done his deed.

    The boy's eyes widened when the bullet made impact with his fair skin.  The first emotion the town had ever seen from the boy.  But there were no cries of pain or agony, despite the gaping hole now in his chest.  It must have been a fatal blow.  People began to mourn immediately.  They had lost interest with the boy, until he was vanished.  He had grown on the entire town, without their really knowing it.  Weeping and sobbing filled the mall, as more rushed to the center to see what had just happened.  More cries were added to that chorus with every growing minute.  Within seconds of the shot, the boy fell to the tile with a tremendous thud.

    "What a shame," said those that walked by an hour later.  They had not witnessed the murder, nor the cops taking away of the man with the gun.  All they knew was that a dead body was going to sit forever behind the bars, rotting.

    But, one child noticed something that evening.  It had been two hours since the accident, and the child saw the boy's chest give a mighty heave.  The wounds began to grow back, undamaged tissue soon replaced the bloody portion, and life began to run all through the boy's veins.  His pale skin began to glow with a faint ivory, and finally with the soft skin tones of life.  With the same emotionless stare as before, the boy stood back up and resumed his imprisonment in life.  The whole town was soon notified, and amazed at the boy.

    Over the summer, the boy had become an idol of the town.  People were worshipping to him, for he had survived a fatal wound.  The original "murderer" had been released, and periodically, people would come by with a variety of usually lethal devices to test the fact for themselves.  They fully believed in the boy behind the bars.  They had every faith in his power.  They did not want to share the news- it remained a local affair, unknown to anybody outside town.

    Around early November, a duo of sinister men entered the mall carrying a metal sign.  The townspeople were again aroused, and curious about what these men were doing.  They strangely resembled the pair that led in the boy so many months before, but were quite different, for they wore faces of grief, not enjoyment.  These men walked in silence, and halted beside the cage.  They stared for a second at the boy, and at the continuously growing mob around the cage.  One that had witnessed the event could even say that there was a flicker of delight in these men's eyes when they scanned over the crowd.  They unloaded their burden and attached it to the floor with amazing speed, just in front of where the boy was facing.  With the same sinister gleam, they walked away and out the door, never turning around.

    The crowd enclosed around the sign- they had kept their distance from the pair that had just come and gone.  People in the back were yelling, "Read it out loud!  Tell us what it says!!"  The cry spread throughout those that couldn't see it, and it became a chant among the mob.  A man up front got everybody's attention, and told everybody that he would read it.  He began, "'The Only Perfect Man in the World.'"  People began scoffing in the back- still with the grasp that nobody was perfect for everybody has sinned.  The man again retained the attention of everybody.  "Now, I'll continue.  'Being completely perfect, he can befall no harm.  Regardless what you do to him, he lives in his perfect state.  He will never do anything wrong.  Provoking him does nothing.  His perfection has kept him from aging any further.  Here is the perfect man in the flesh.'"

    Gasps arose from all around.  So that was the answer to the mystery!  They believed it all.  He had to be the Savior of the town.  With that, everybody gave cheer to the solved mystery, and their faith in the boy was confirmed.  They believed in him and kept him to themselves.  They all lived lives based around the boy which they called holy.  The town continued as normal, but without forgetting about their prize.  They had the perfect man!  Their selfishness kept outsiders out, but the townspeople didn't notice or even care.  They had the perfect person!

    It was early December yet again, but thoughts of Christmas were no more.  The townspeople had developed a new holiday devoted to the introduction of each event associated with the perfect person.  They were excited about the feast whose focus was the removal of the kiosk.  As everybody was scattering around preparing for the festivities, the first visitors in such a long time showed.  The townspeople were frightened, for they remembered not the aura of visitors and they feared accusations from those who didn't know the town’s new way.  But, this pair of men had pleasant faces, and yet still resembled the two significant pair from before.  Their faces were not threatening, as they gave a warm, friendly smile to all of those who cowered away.   Still, they had a dark presence- but nobody seemed to notice.  The pair walked up to the cage, stopped, peered in, and stood still for a few seconds.  All of the hustle and bustle from before their arrival had been halted.  All eyes were on the visitors.  All was in silence.  The visitors gave a nod of approval, their faces giving way to no emotion.  Then they gazed around the entire area, and their countenances lightened with enjoyment, for a job well done.  In silence, the visitors turned around, and walked silently out the door.  Nobody followed.  Upon turning the corner outside the sliding glass door, the figure on the right stopped still, now with a confused grin on his face.  The other figure halted as well.

    "How?  How did it turn out like that?" asked the right-hand figure.
    With silky smoothness, the silhouette on the left replied, "It was easy."
    "All we did was take in a few objects you had made, and the whole town is now following you."
    "I know."
    "The entire town was turned towards you by this simple little plan.  How'd you figure it out?"
    "I know," said Satan.

-Keith Smithson-

Author's Notes:  Nice plot twist, eh?  The meaning is neither Satanic nor blasphemic.  It's simply a story of the corruption of an unaware town- and the extent to which Satan will go to corrupt it.  And how Satan knows HOW to corrupt most everybody.  Gets you thinking, what?  Anyways, the idea just popped into my head while I was lying down in the recliner with a 101 F fever.  So, I just decided that I'd better put it into words before I forgot... so I sat at the computer... and 3 hours later, here it is.  I'm particularly fond of this story- just because I think it is fairly well done, and the responses I've got out of most people.  They're reading, and right when they finish, they're just like, "Whoa!"  It's a priceless face, indeed.