[ WP ] Show a Darker Side of a Well-Known Fictional Hero or Mentor Figure

The sky above the half-finished capitol is lead grey. The streets run with the muck and grime of thousands. The moneyed amble off in their carriages, ported back to their estates and their rich brownstones, ensconced in warm fires, catered to by servants. The poor and destitute are left to stumble on through the filthy streets run with mud, boots sucked off their feet with every half-hearted step. The tall man steps off his soap box, his jester's stage, and dons the worn felt hat he carries at his side. His spirits dampens him, envelops him as the overcast November sky. He walks back to his home, forgoing the coach and the men that wait on him. 
 
 He takes the long way back; the meandering way by the bends of the Potomac. He sees in the distance the brick and stone fortifications. The black rimed cannons that point south. Always south. His eyes turn to the navy ships. The porters unload the corpses by the dozens, by the hundreds. There are not enough flags to cover their mutilated, diseased bodies, and they are covered by tattered tent canvas. The freezing rain starts to fall, and his mood takes a violent, bloody turn. `` Damn them. Damn them!'' he shouts silently into the corridors of his own mind. `` Damn them I'd have them all strung up and hung. Traitors to their bones! By Gabriel and all the angels, to Hell and the Fire with them.'' He rips up the speech he had penned this morning; the one that spoke of the fellowship of the common man, of the concord and shared destiny of the Union. 
 
 His boot sinks into a muddy, viscous puddle. He can not extricate his foot, and as a crashing wave the absurdity of the situation catches up to him. He laughs a self deprecating laugh, and his foul mood lifts. He unbuckles the boot and continues homeward. 
 
 
 ( Post Script: I consider President Lincoln to be a mentor figure of sorts; his life and his works are those from which I draw a great deal of inspiration. I hope this short piece qualifies. Thank you ). 

