A short-short story that I wrote time ago for a short story class.

Feel free to criticize it, since it already went through that blender already. Most liked it, but many felt this was an opening for a bigger story than a self-contained story:

*****

They called me a villain, a monster, a despicable human being. Petty cries from uncultured buffoons I say, for I was a man of vision, aspiring for greatness; a world united under my guidance, a utopia that would put Xerxes and Cesar to shame. Such wisdom can be misunderstood, but what can it be done, when dealing with hopeless simpletons?

All dreams start with a seedling from which to work. A small country in the Pacific Rim which was fairly easy to overtake; a poverty stricken island that in mere months I converted into a striving militaristic Republic, a force to be reckoned with. Its people were hesitant to follow me at first, but with time they learned to appreciate my vision and follow me. Others in my position would either be satisfied with this, or just want more, but to be led by mediocrity or greed is for the weak; I had a vision and my quest is was what mattered most, but this kind of enterprise needed resources and careful treading. For you see, it’s just like baking a culinary masterpiece: it requires the right ingredients and time to achieve.

My nation grew and grew, from which I either took over by force or bought over with wealth and riches from simple-minded fools; after all, every man has a price. Other neighboring countries became my allies at first and eventually joined my empire, after they realized my genius and vision, and it didn’t take long for me to gain control over Eastern Europe. That’s when I was finally noticed by the so-called “Superpowers”: Hypocrites at most I say, for they just want power and wealth under the pretense of “justice” and “freedom”.

They called me a villain, a monster, a despicable human being. Maybe it looked like that from a misguided point of view, but what can I say when geniuses can be easily misunderstood? True, I had to resort to questionable tactics at this point, but could you blame me? They sent to hunt me down entire armies, stuffy secrets spies and even super powered caped clowns. To be honest, I never understood why these are to be considered a threat at all; they’re human after all, with the occasional exception, of course. It just takes the right tool to deal with the nuisance; it helps that you get rid of them before patting yourself in the back. One can learn from other people’s mistakes indeed.

Little by little, more nations subjugated to my reasoning. It took some force to accomplish that, but you know what they say, “spare the rod, spoil the child”. However, the more powerful I grew, the more enemies I had. Not just those who disagree with my views, but also those within my ranks, already claiming to prove superior to myself and that they could do a better job that I did. Ungrateful swines. They were dealt accordingly, but their numbers just kept rising. Even after all these years of success that I had, I still haven’t reached my ultimate goal. It’s as if I’m missing a vital factor in my plan.

That’s when I figured it out: The final piece that prevented my goal. The piece that once removed I shall fulfill my destiny. From this revelation, I devised weapons of mass destruction, more powerful than the conventional ones already available, yet precise enough to eliminate the annoyance lodged in my path. For reasons that escaped me back then, my most loyal subjects tried to talk me out of this plan, but I went with it anyway. I calculated all the variables; there’s no way that I overlooked a mistake. In a blink of an eye, they launched. I waited.

They worked.

They worked too well…

They called me a villain, a monster, a despicable human being. Fallacies to say the most, for you see, I am but an old fool, now ruler of a lifeless ball of dirt in the vast emptiness of space, writing memoirs of failure and disgrace. But, was it a failure on my part, or maybe it was a blessing in disguise? Maybe this world will do fine without my leadership, or any for that matter.

Only time will tell.