I was blindfolded before the plane landed. We'd been in the air almost 9 hours, having left from a smaller municipal airport whose runway was barely enough to allow the plane to land and take off. I didn't know exactly where we were going, only our general destination.
I heard the crew opening the cabin door and anxiously waited as the boarding stair unfolded. I was asked to stand and then guide out of the aircraft and down the stairs and bundled into a waiting SUV. We then drove for close to an hour. I could smell the clean tang of an ocean breeze and tropical flowers as the a SUV began a winding drive on a rising road.
When we stopped I heard a second vehicle pull past us and park, heard its door open, some quietly spoken words, then heard people walking past our SUV. After a minute or two, my door was opened and I was helped out of the SUV and my blindfold was removed.
I saw...
The most beautiful landscape my eyes had ever seen. Nothing from my memory could compare. I was standing on the edge of a seaside cliff, the sun dazzlingly bright across the waves. Thin, wispy clouds danced on the horizon, and the call of gulls was barley heard over the crashing of the water below.
I turned around, excited to see what would match this majesty, and I was not disappointed. Rolling hillsides of emerald green stretched as far as the ocean did. Every now and then a few trees rose from the earth and sprawled glorious branches of pink and brown leaves. Squirrels and chipmunks frolicked between them.
I was suddenly aware of the people around me, those who had driven me to this paradise. I leaned closer to one of them, a big burly man in a black suit. He had a shiny badge displayed across his breast, I could just make out the top emblem : [BBB]. He looked very serious, but something about his aura calmed me. He was here to do good, I could tell.
"Excuse me, sir?" I sheepishly asked.
He looked to me and nodded, "Yes?"
"How do these fields stay so green, even in a time of war like this?"
The man smiled, and then pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small bag filled with a green substance.
"Why that would be because of our great broccoli, of course!" He pulled a stalk of the freshest looking broccoli I could remember out of the bag, and took a hearty bite. There was a satisfying crunch to it, and the man grunted with pleasure.
"You see our way of life depends on broccoli and all the wonderful things that come with it. That is why the agents here at the bureau work tirelessly around the clock to make sure those nefarious lesser cabbages don't come ruining our society."
His tone was definite, strong. I knew I could trust these agents, and I didn't ask any questions when he handed me a piece of the supreme vegetable.