[ WP ] A man forgets to water his potted plant for a whole week . This negligence starts a long chain reaction that leads up to World War III .

`` ROLAND!'' 
 
 `` Yes, dear?'' 
 
 `` Will you please DO SOMETHING about this stupid plant??? It looks like it has n't been watered in a week! It looks horrible now!'' 
 
 `` Okay! Okay! I'll try and revive it, put some fertilizer in...'' 
 
 `` Look, just throw it away already! You're not cut out to be a gardener, okay? All your flowers have wilted and died, I have no need for all these things, especially with my allergies...'' 
 
 Roland sighed. `` Okay. Fine.'' 
 
 `` And hurry up! The trash truck could be here any minute!'' 
 
 Roland begrudgingly took the pot out to the curb, where the overflowing trash can was waiting for the sanitation truck. He pulled the wilted plant out of the pot, stuck it on top of the festering pile of full trash bags, and hurried back inside. 
 
 A gust of wind blew the plant off the trash can and onto the sidewalk a few minutes later. 
 
 This caught a drunk pedestrian by surprise. He tripped over the plant and fell onto the concrete. The beer bottle he carried slipped out of his hands and shattered in the street. 
 
 Frustrated, the drunk man got up and stumbled on his way. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Sergei Drumayetin was already having a bad day. First he was running late to get to his job at the consulate. Then, some broken beer bottle blew out one of the tires on his BMW. 
 
 Now, he was staring down the barrel of a handgun as he was being mugged by a gang of young punks just as he was finished installing the spare tire. 
 
 `` Come on! Do n't make any stupid moves, just take your wallet out and hand it over!'' 
 
 As his hand drew out of his pocket with the wallet, his key ring - occupying the same pocket - fell out the pocket onto the ground. 
 
 `` You know what? We'll just take the car instead! Thanks!'' 
 
 Sergei felt a kick to the head and hit the ground hard. Before he knew it, the robbers were in his car and already speeding down the street. 
 
 He felt around for his cell phone, only to get hit by a sinking feeling. He left his phone in the car. 
 
 Desperately looking around for help, he spotted a patrol car turning the corner and coming to a stop. As the policeman got out, Sergei ran towards him. `` HEY! HEY YOU!'' 
 
 That would turn out to be Sergei's last words, as the panicked rookie officer, thinking he was about to be assaulted, shot him dead. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Four days of rioting in the streets, following the acquittal of the police officer in the accidental death of Sergei Drumayetin, have taken a heavy toll on the capital of Bhutaristan. The Prime Minister knew he needed to say something or do something at this point. 
 
 On one hand, he knew, and President Obama knew, that the whole tragedy was the product of an honest mistake. He watched the trial play out on television, hoping against hope that there would at least be a conviction on a lesser manslaughter charge. 
 
 On the other hand, the riots broke out almost immediately after the verdict of `` not guilty'' was announced, and the chaos was nearing the Russian border. His calls for a period of healing immediately after the verdict only angered his people and caused a plummet in his approval rating. And now the Russian president, who was an important ally, was pressuring him to make a new statement calling for order and an end to the rioting. 
 
 So the Prime Minister assembled his top security aides and told them to secure a spot in a nearby park. He would then make an announcement calling for an end to the violence once and for all. 
 
 A sizable crowd assembled as he made his speech. But he was confident that there would not be any incidents. 
 
 Unfortunately, a sniper's bullet would soon disprove that confidence. 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Yusuf Hajadi wanted to make a statement. His terrorist group had dominated the civil war that erupted following the Prime Minister's assassination. And now that his Nationalist People's Party had established a new dictatorial system of government in Bhutaristan, he was going to make sure that no other nation, no matter how big and powerful, was going to push him around. 
 
 Hajadi summoned the Minister of the Military. `` What's the status of our'special purchase'?'' 
 
 `` We have secured the missiles. There's about fifty of them... all with potent nuclear warheads. The sellers took good care of them ever since they were in Soviet hands.'' 
 
 `` Good. Make sure the storage bunker is ready for them. And as soon as one of them is ready, we're going to send it over to the devils in America.'' 
 
 `` What?! Are you mad???? The Americans will annihilate us! And the Russians will take our land afterwards!'' 
 
 `` We'll make it look like the Russians did it. I want a missile silo built right by the border. I will tell the Transportation minister to start a huge tunnel project so that we can build this without any spy satellites noticing. Then, once the missile is ready, we launch it at the Americans!'' 
 
 `` You're insane. I will not stand for this!'' 
 
 Hajadi motioned to one of the guards. He pulled a knife and slit the minister's throat. 
 
 `` You are my new Minister of the Military,'' he said to the guard as the former minister fell dead. `` Get started on the silo!'' 
 
 `` As you wish, my leader.'' 
 
 Hajadi smiled. `` This will be a glorious day for Bhutaristan!'' 
 
 -- -- -- -- -- -- - 
 
 Tonight... on Dateline NBC... The Soldiers' Stories. 
 
 A rogue missile, detonating thirty miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Hundreds of thousands dead, and a metropolis nearly obliterated. 
 
 A provocation leading to U.S. forces invading Bhutaristan and deposing of their maniacal leader. 
 
 A retaliatory invasion of Bhutaristan by Russia, angry at the prolonged occupation of the land by U.S. forces, further incinerating an already heated conflict in the area, as nations all over the world are forced to take sides. 
 
 No one wanted to call this `` World War III'' at first. But as China and Iran joined Russia, and NATO forces joined the Americans, in the struggle for the soul of Bhutaristan, everyone came to the grim realization that this was indeed a global battle, though concentrated in one region of the globe. 
 
 After three years of heavy fighting, there may be a stalemate and an end to the war in the near future. But the human toll, although merely a tiny fraction of the previous world war, is still devastating to some. 
 
 One casualty of war is Philip Nailer, an Army Sergeant, who was struck by enemy gunfire as he led a group of Bhutari schoolchildren to safety. 
 
 His ultimate sacrifice was a valiant one, that saved a dozen young lives. But his father is still wracked with grief and guilt as he is presented with his son's medal during the funeral. 
 
 Says his father, Roland Nailer: `` Sometimes I feel like I'm the one who started this horrible war in the first place.''
