fractured fairy tale

Once upon a time in the city of Denial, the state of Disrepair, the leaders had a decision to make. The Esteemed Royal Honcho, Winbag; the Queen of Denial, Barney the Dinosour, Charlie the Tuna, and Merlin the Math Magician got together to further the idea that they were legends in their own minds. The peasants were restless for repairs to the sewers, streets, and neighborhoods. While you're at it they shouted, let's get more police on the streets to keep the shooting down, they cried. The leader's in their feeble attempt to build castles in their honor, ignored the peasants, but listened to their complaints for hours on end, pretending to be interested.

The leaders threw out many diversions, a Royal warehouse for local artisans, a Royal Skatepark, a fee to further fill the coffers, machines to catch you fleeing too fast, a threat to do away with the royal checker uppers. And for a while it worked; instead of talking about all the monies the leaders were spending, the peasants were squabbling about who should get the axe. They never thought about their Royal taxes being raised while the sacrificial employees looked elsewhere for work, and more services were getting cut.

One day the peasants revolted and the Royals were taken to task for their actions. An emergency tele-conference was called and sadness overcame the Royals when the Wizard told them he couldn't help them with a brain.