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After many, long, hard years working for the federal government, it was finally time for me to retire. It was a day I had waited for, all of my life. No more work and finally being able to enjoy life to its fullest, everyday, was something that I had dreamed of since I first began washing dishes at my hometown's local restaurant, at the age of sixteen.

The day came and went, almost as if it had never happened. I had a big ceremony and, afterward, a party, celebrating my retirement with large groups of co-workers, friends, and family. It was a day to remember with pride and the satisfaction of a job well done. I had worked hard all of my life and one of the many perks of working for the government was that I would be well taken care of in my retirement years. I was so happy that it was finally happening.

After the initial adjustment period to retirement life, I soon became involved in several private clubs and organizations, all for the enjoyment of spending time with others who all shared with me one hobby or another. One of the foremost of those hobbies, for me, was golfing. The best part about spending my time doing nothing but hobbies I enjoyed was that, not only did I never have to do anything except what I thought was fun, but I could do these things with my family, for the most part. Spending time with them made retirement even sweeter.

This went on for nearly a year. It was a period of my life that I would always remember with fondness. I can't say the same for the next.

I began having problems with my bank account. Since retiring, I had been receiving a certain percentage of the pay rate that I had been previously making when I was employed ' my 'monthly retirement check'. These days, retirees had the option to receive their retirement pay in the form of direct deposit into their bank account. I had lived with direct deposit for so long, when I was employed, that I opted to continue with that method.

But, one day, the pay was not there. When it was finally sent to the bank, it was only half of what I was supposed to be receiving. I began the lengthy process of trying to correct this problem with the bank and with the financial contacts I had for federal retirees. I say it was 'lengthy' because this problem was never corrected.

The next month, the same thing happened, as well as the month after that and the month after that. Serious frustration began to set in and were it not for friends and family pitching in, I would have otherwise had a very difficult time surviving.

The problem never subsided and I began to feel that drastic measures were going to be needed. As if on cue, things got worse. My payments seemed to have stopped all together! Deposits were no longer being made into my bank account at all. I tried a complementary couple of months to straighten things out with the bank and the federal financial advisor whom I had been in association with during the entire time of my struggle, but I soon knew it was time to step up to the plate and look at hiring a lawyer.

I searched for names of lawyers, in the phone book, and found several. By the end of the day, I had left messages on at least ten different voice mails.

I had resided to then make myself a cold drink and spend the early evening out on my porch, contemplating what to do next. I wasn't outside on the porch for more than five minutes, before a shiny, black car pulled into my driveway. Out of the car stepped several men in dark suits and glasses. Their faces appeared to be made out of stone. The men were expressionless, as they approached the screened porch and asked for me by my name.

I concurred with whom I was and then I was ordered to accompany them in their vehicle. I protested, but not for long. When I was shown that underneath their jackets were firearms, I readily agreed to do what they said.

In their car, I rode in the back seat, sandwiched between two of them, while two more rode in the front. We had been driving for more than an hour and had reached a very desolate area of the state that I had never encountered before. It was now dark outside, I was in an unfamiliar area, and from the looks of things, we were the only people around for hundreds of miles.

None of the men had spoken a word since taking me away from my home. Finally, I could stand it no longer and piped up, asking what this was all about. One of the men, apparently confident that he could speak in all honestly at this point, proceeded to tell me exactly what it was all about. I was sorry I ever asked.

The men were special agents of a secret, black ops government organization that the public was completely unaware of. These men would receive a report at the beginning of the day, from an originator on Capitol Hill, complete with names of certain individuals, all of whom had recently retired from employment with the federal government. Each of these retirees was to be 'disposed of' - murdered.

Out of 100% of all federal retirees, the government, nationwide, assassinated 20%. This was a conspiracy that had been in place since the late '50's. The federal government promised an ease of life with excellent retirement pay and benefits, barely unmatched by the private sector. But, what the public had failed to ever notice was the underlying plan of the government to only give a portion of the promised support. The 20% who were randomly exterminated, shortly after retirement, would provide the government a nice boost in savings, all at the expense of those who had dedicated their lives to working for their government, expecting nothing more than the same support in return, at retirement age.

The percentage of assassinated retirees was so small and so random, throughout the entire nation, that the trend had never been spotted...not by the media, not by sociological professors, not by any of the nation's people.

Still, it was large enough to save the government millions in revenue, in the long run, and that was motive enough for them to make it happen. Of course, those in the secret organization doing the government's dirty work were the only exception to the rule and could retire without fear of taking a dirt nap soon afterwards. Otherwise, there would be no one willing to take such actions. The same was true for every senator, congressman and president there ever was.

I was guilty of never being aware of what had been taking place all around me, my whole life. I now hated myself for it. I wondered how many other retirees I personally knew who were also on the 'hit list' and who would be fortunate enough not to be.

As I felt the pain of hard ground and stone beneath my knees, while at gunpoint, I listened to how my entire, immediate family would also soon be executed. After all, if something were to happen to me, all of my retirement money would go to them. And, they already shared some of the same benefits that I had. What good would that do the government? The family would have to go too.

Tears streamed down my face, as both of my hands were tied behind my back. I couldn't believe that this is what it had all come down too. I couldn't believe that my own government was going to cheat me this way, after I had put in a life-long amount of work for it, all because of greed on the part of those who were supposed to be our leaders.

Just as a gloved finger tightened on the trigger of the weapon that was pointed at the back of my head, I squinted and looked down, anticipating the impact of the bullet. I was regretful of the way things had turned out.

The gun fired.

BAAAAM!

And, just as it shot, I shot straight out of bed, my head skyrocketing toward the ceiling of my bedroom. I was doused in a cold sweat, gripping the sheets of my bed. I was now only in my twenties and my wife, now also much younger, lay next to me in bed.

'What's wrong, honey,' she asked, now awake, due to my sudden jolt.

'Nothing babe'just thinking about getting a new job tomorrow...that's all.'

THE END