Sentence 4

OK, here's sentence number four, but I'm not going to tell you what it is ahead of time (it's the line in quotes at the very end of the story). This is a one-off joke more than a story, but it amuses me so I will subject you to it.

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Joseph stepped up to the voting booth with a mix of fear and anticipation. It was an exciting time to be an American voter, and even more so to be one in Ohio. The reports were pretty clear that it would come down to one or two states, and Ohio was set to be the last of them.

So Joseph, voter pamphlet in hand and mind full of the political chaff that had exploded over the country for the past year, stepped forward to face the glowing face of a touch-screen voting machine. It was warm and friendly, the brightly lit monitor familiar from hours spent in front of an office computer and home television. Like sitting down in the seat of a new car. The shape may be different but the pedals were in the same place and the steering wheel could be counted on to be set just in front of the driver's seat.

And so he tapped at the glass to start the process. He spread out the pamphlet and got ready to enfranchise the hell out of himself. Right up front, the first choice on the screen was presidential. Like starting a meal with dessert. A name in red and another in blue, both primary colors bright and inviting, eager to have his fingers stroke their spot but retaining dignity. They weren't there to beg, but he imagined them glancing at him sidelong, coyly, suggesting rewards and pleasures if only he would choose them over the rival. Joe chafed his palms together and readied the index finger on his right hand.

Then something caught his eye. It looked like a line of dirt on the screen. A single bit of text that nearly disappeared into the background just under the name in blue. Joe leaned in close, squinting. It wasn't dirt. It was text, floating serenely below the blue candidate's button.

He got closer still, the line resolving into seven words.

"This offer void where prohibited by law"