Foreword:  Today’s blog is a fun diversion into fiction — the result of the latest assignment to the Kenai Senior Center writers’ group.  Our prompt was, “The phone rang. A glance at the clock showed 2:37.  Your assignment: establish time, place, main character and beginning plot.”

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Riiiiing! . . . . Riinngg! . . . . Riinngg! . . . . .

Governor Mike Dunleavy slowly rolled over in his bed in the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau, Alaska. His bleary-eyed glance at the bedside clock showed it was 2:37 AM. Alaska’s tall Governor, the tallest in the nation, had just returned from a visit to Washington, DC the day before, where his meeting with President Donald Trump had made national headlines.

Things rarely happen in Alaska that require phoning the Guv in the middle of the night, so he was both curious and annoyed. “What’s important enough to wake me at this unholy hour?” the Governor mumbled to himself as he picked up the phone. “Hello . . . Governor Mike Dunleavy here.”

“Hello, Mike – and this is President Trump. Sorry to bother you at this terrible hour, but something has been bugging me ever since our tremendous meeting and I’ve got to get it off my chest.”

Suddenly, the Governor was wide-awake. “Oh? Please do tell me, Mr. President. I thought our meeting was great.”

“It was, Mike, but things were happening so fast, I never had a chance to answer your claim that Alaskan Amber is the best beer brewed anywhere in America. You obviously haven’t tried any Finback beer, brewed right in Queens, New York, not far from Trump Tower.“

“Tell you what, Mike, I’ll send you a couple cases of Kinda Brooklyn, my very favorite Finback brew. Then you can do a blind taste test and see for yourself. Take your time, then give me a call and lets talk again about which beer is better, Alaskan or New York’s Finback.’’

“Mr. President, that’s a brilliant idea! Thank you sooo much! I can hardly wait to do that blind taste test. I’ll round up a bunch of politically-neutral Juneauites and we’ll see for ourselves. I’ll phone you back with our results just as soon as I can.”

To be continued . . .