A fisherman’s revolution

Dan, the fisherman stared morosely at the breathtaking view in front of him. He was inured to the beauties of his home – Norfolk Island, gazing at them as he were, for half a century.  He had been amused when he had first read of the global financial crises in the dailies before drily commenting to his wife on thriftless Americans and greedy fools.

The tables were now turned. He cursed his local government as he mentally calculated the new income taxes, everyone in the island was now forced to pay. This was not to be.

As he walked down to the docks, his mind was made up. Revolution!

Author’s note: 

Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia 1,412km east of the New South Wales north coast, had their own autonomy for decades and the residents were well out of the Australia tax net – never paying any income taxes.

This region was in news for most of 2015 and 2016 as it was forced to seek the Australian govt’s help to pay off their debts. The under-developed and green paradise that earlier had only GST as its main revenue source, was now a part of the broader Australian income tax net. This hasn’t gone down too well with the locals.

I was tempted to write on this topic today – given the brewing trouble in Catalonia, Spain.

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. Using the 360 degree view of the location provided, you must write a piece of flash fiction of no more than 150 words. You can read the rules here.