Joey Temple

 Joey Temple was not a typical boy.  He didn't do typical things for a boy his age.  He had only been around for 12 years, but it seemed like an eternity to him.  In fact, he had lived for an eternity.  Joey had had several identities.  From the well-meaning jailer in 5th Century B.C. Egypt to a waiter in a pub in 17th Century England to Napoleon Bonaparte's valet to the blacksmith from Tombstone, Arizona.  Joey had seen it all, and now he was a kid coming of age in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 Life in his neighborhood was boring at best.  The houses showed the wear of peeled paint from once-a-year snows and 100-degree summers.  The parents sold insurance, cars, and industrial real estate.  They played doctors, lawyers, and professional Indian chiefs.  Each one tried to outdo the other's pool size.  And they all had 2 1/2 children, a dog, and 2 cats.
 The kids rode bikes and dreamed of drivers' licenses.  Their school work was tedious, but all the boys loved the teacher.  The girls wanted a rock star to visit their houses, but they would settle for hearing their request on the radio.  They all had three lives--school, weekend, and Summer vacation.  They lived for playing.  Playing ball.  Playing dolls.  Playing war.  Playing playing.
 Except for Joey.  He was planning World War III in the den, next to the Atari, but this time it was for real.  Dr. Temple taught Physics at Louisiana State University and was writing a book of Applied Actions from Reactions.  His time was spent on teaching and writing and thought that Joey was still 8 years old.  Mrs. Temple worked at home for an envelope addressing firm, which she had seen advertised in a weekly gossip tabloid.  She cooked all the meals and cleaned the house, but she let Joey share the responsibilities of cleaning up to instill a sense of maturity for later in life.  Joey's sister was in high school and never at home.  Her boyfriend saw to that.  Now what Joey was planning could have bizarre implications for all the Earth, and nobody could stop him.  His world was a box of wires; a TV screen; and a telephone.  He called it a computer.
 Joey had seen a movie about a kid breaking into a government computer and triggering a fake missile attack.  Joey didn't want to do this, because he would be labeled a copycat by his friends.  Instead, he wanted to start World War III by telling the Soviets that a nuclear bomb had been planted somewhere in East Germany, and it was going to explode in 36 minutes, as a retaliation for their dominations of Eastern Europe and Afghanistan.  And, who would the Soviets believe?  Why, the President of the United States, of course.  His computer was going to imitate the President's voice and codes for nuclear war, and as the President, Joey would tell the Soviets that they couldn't do anything about the bomb and would dare them to fire back at us.  It would be a tough speech, but the President was known for his tough talk on the Russians and Communism in general.  The plan was perfect.  The time was right.  The word wasn't ready, but nothing could be done to prevent it.  Joey controlled the buttons.  Humanity was to become extinct by a pre-teen.
 It was time for supper.  Joey left his computer turned on, because he didn't think he would be gone long.  He could eat and return to his work, but the dog got to the box before Joey.  Fluffy didn't know that pressing her nose against the "Command" knob would trigger a chain of events that no one would forget, much less remember.
 Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a Russian corporal was attempting to go through his normal routine.  His job was essentially the same every day.  He had to watch for any news coming over the teletype that would be of importance to the Soviet leadership.  Ivan listened for the little bell, which would signal a message.  He had faithfully handled this job for 2 years, but didn't mind that the Army hadn't promoted him.  He thought that if he got promoted, that he might be sent elsewhere, and he liked it where he was, even though it was a little boring.
 In the two years that Ivan had been working, he received only standard messages such as troop strengths or minor skirmishes as reported by the intelligence operatives.  Usually, he gathered the reports together and had a courier take them twice a day to the Army Chief-of-Staff.
 The sun was just coming up over Lenin's Tomb.  Ivan could see it from his window.  His coffee was getting cold, but he was busy getting the first packet of messages together for the courier to take.  2 more hours to work when his replacement would arrive, and he could go to bed.  2 years of 12-hour shifts would have killed an ordinary man, but Ivan loved Moscow, so he didn't mind.
 Suddenly, the bell went off.  Ivan strolled over to the teletype to get a message that would probably say something about the Afghan War.  What he saw was entirely different.  The words read like a nightmare.  His heart began to pound.  The message was datelined from Washington, DC and by the President of the United States.  Was Ivan to phone the message to the Kremlin or take it personally?  Was it a hoax?  Who would be crazy enough to say nuclear war would begin in less than an hour?
 Joey's peas were okay, but he didn't want the corn.  His sister left.  On her radio, the Emergency Broadcast System came on.  Joey's father hated that sound, because it made the dog bark.  The radio announcer said, "This is NOT a test!"  World War III had begun.  Fluffy howled.
 Ivan never made it to sergeant.  Joey's sister lost her love.  The FBI never brought federal charges against Joey and his computer.  It was all over except for the smoke.  Nobody was left to know who started it, and at this point--nobody cared.