I won, he muttered to himself, in a moment of reflection sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.

This was not happening, I won on the night, fair and square. The election was rigged. Fake votes, fake news. To lose was unthinkable, to lose to Sleepy Joe, no way. Seventy million voted for me. They follow me, they love me. I am The President. I will show that I won. I won! I won! I won!

Don’t they realise I saved Americans from the China Flu? I have given them the cure. (Anyway, I had China Flu and it was no big deal). And I’m Making America Great Again, I deserve a second chance and I…

“Christ!”

“That is me, My Son”

Standing in front of him was a swarthy, tall man with shoulder-length black hair dressed in long white robes. He wore leather sandals on his feet and held a long, slender piece of wood that was curled at the top.

“Security,” The President yelped. “Help, Security.”

 “There is no reason to fear me, My Son. I come in peace.”

“Imposter, Bin Laden, armed terrorist…”

The President fumbled under his desk for the button. “Oops, not that one, that’s for Kim. Here it is, the security button.” He pressed it, nothing happened, no alarms, no security staff rushing in. In a lather he then sprang to his feet and rushed to the office door knocking over an American flag on the way. The door was locked. He banged on the door, “Help. Security”. But there was no response.

The President was isolated. He turned to the imposter who was impassively following his movements. He then thought of a gun and searched feverishly for a weapon. A gun, there has to be a gun, all Americans have guns, but no gun.

Sweating profusely, his face florid, The President then picked up a paper weight from his desk and confronted the imposter.

“Who are you? What do you want? How did you disable my security?” The President held the paper weight above his head threatening the impostor. “You will be killed for this.”

“I am Jesus Christ.”

“Oh, sure you are – and I’m Donald Duck.”

“My Father, the Lord God has sent me to save Mankind.”

Slightly placated, The President cautiously placed the paper weight back on his desk. He was still concerned about the long piece of wood held by the so-called Christ, but it did resemble a shepherd’s staff, not a dangerous weapon. The imposter looked harmless enough, and even had some type of circular light hovering over his head which gave off a peaceful aura.

The guy might just be a loony, The President thought, and there were plenty of those in America. He might even be one of those crackpot Democrats!

“Look, Jesus or whatever you name is, I promise I won’t have you killed. We have plenty of aid programs for the mentally disturbed. I’ll personally have you committed to a mental institution and you’ll get plenty of help.”

“I wish to talk with you about God’s Kingdom.”

Must be one of those climate activists upset about my withdrawal from the Paris Accord.

“Look climate change is fake news, fake news. Coal is good…”

The Christ guy looked at him with a slight smile but did not comment.

That didn’t seem to work. Maybe he was here to protest about something else like racial abuse or the plight of the poor.

“If you are here about black people or the homeless. Look, I can see you’re poor and kinda black. I can help you get a job, I’ve got an empire you know”.

“I have returned to save all Mankind. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

A Bible-basher, has to be. Better not upset this guy as he might be one of my God-fearing followers, The President mused, now sitting at his desk.

“OK, I think we are done here. You’ve got your 15 minutes of fame, for whatever you believe in. I’m extra busy trying to prove that I should have a Second Term. Now it’s time to reverse the magic trick and allow the security system to work again. I’ll let you go without conviction.”

“The Lord is my Shepherd…”

“I’m getting mad again. If you’re the real Jesus Christ and you’re back, then show me a miracle to prove it. Something like turning stone to bread, feeding the five thousand…”

“I have encased your world in silence so we can talk about the future of the world.”

The President pondered. Wait on, this guy might be legitimate. Who could disengage the security system of the greatest country on Earth? This was a miracle, not magic. It could very well be the second coming of Christ.

“Alright, I’m starting to warm to you as Christ, starting to believe. Look, I need some help to win the election I did win. Like you, it should be my second coming. I can take a selfie of us and post it on Twitter. ‘Jesus Christ endorses The President for another term.’ It’ll go viral. That’ll trump everything.”

Christ looked bewildered.

The President then rubbed his eyes. He was under his desk in the foetal position. Christ was gone.

“Hell!” he yelled.

© Neil Dufty