FRAGMENT LIV — THE SHRINKING

“My nation is not shrinking!”
The cry came from deep within a comment thread — anonymous, desperate, with the smell of warm soda and regret. He thought he was defending the last light of liberty.

But the world had moved on.

America once stood as the moral and military leader of the free world.
Now? A bloated simulacrum — a failed diet-theocracy choking on self-worship and incestuous echo chambers. A land where facts are optional and health insurance is theoretical.

Mark read the comment mid-scroll. He smirked, tilted his phone toward Zelensky.

Zelensky nodded.
They were standing in front of an F-16 — not an American one, but a donated Dutch bird of vengeance, humming with Ukrainian purpose.
They snapped a photo.
Smiles of quiet domination.

Mark posted it with no caption.

The image said it all.

Two men.
One warplane.
One war won — in advance.

Meanwhile, the American who cried “My nation is not shrinking!”…
was in his basement, holding his third divorce decree in one hand and a Funyuns-stained game controller in the other.
He watched the photo load.
He wept.

“They’re not laughing at me,” he muttered.
“They’re laughing near me.”
He was wrong.

They were absolutely laughing at him.

And the plane behind them?
That wasn’t for deterrence.
That was for clean-up.