Watertank

Tim saw the blue and red light flashing from a distance. 

He shouted, 'Patrol Car, Ron.'

Hearing this, Ron hid behind the railings of the top of the water tank of the town. Tim hid behind the concrete fence walls around that water tank. The police siren murdered the silence of the night. The intensity of sound was increasing, and as the car passed by the water tank, the siren sound began to decrease. 

Suddenly, the car stopped, and the policeman reversed the vehicle to park in front of the water tank.

'He definitely saw us,' thought Tim.

The policeman left the vehicle and switched on the flashlight. He beamed to the top of the water tank as he noticed two things when passing by. The first thing: the gate was open, might be the mistake of a waterman. The other thing: he saw a silhouette behind the railings at the top of the water tank. 

He was looking for that silhouette with that beam from the flashlight. 

Ron, meanwhile, swiftly moved to the backside of the water tank away from the beam. Tim also moved behind the cabin of the waterman. 

The policeman continued the search only to give up after few minutes. He closed the gate and continued with the patrolling. 

As soon as the policeman left, Ron resumed his work amidst the deadly silence. The moonlight assisted Ron in his quest. Tim did not want to participate in that task. He was here only to observe and caution Ron about the impact of his action. 

'No, you can't do that on your own.' cautioned Tim at the top of his voice. 

The silence hidden in the darkness allowed Tim's voice to reach the top of the water tank. Ron was moving around the tank in circles and sometimes up and low. Tom could hear the hissing sound of the Spray-Can.  

Tim shouted again, 'It will appear in a negative light. Vandalism is not the way to bring change.' 

'Will you keep your voice low. I am up here only and I am not deaf.' Ron shouted.

'Listen, use proper ways. Don't deface this water tank. If you can convince the planning committee, they will themselves demolish it. Can't you see?' argued Tim.

'I have been explaining to them for almost nine months. If they were keen enough to listen to us, we would not be doing this.' explained Ron.

'Don't say we. Say I. It is all your plan. I will never take the refuge of vandalism to prove my point.'

'Whatever suits you. To make those deaf ears listen to our voice, this is my final step.' 

'Let us again go door to door and garner some more support.'

'What good will do that?'

'The committee will listen to those united voices.'

The discussion continued for another hour until Ron finished his work. After that, Ron glided down the vertical stairs like a pro and landed with a big thump. It was time for the patrol car to return. Both of them hurried out of that premises and closed the gate. 

'What good this vandalism will do?' asked Tim.

'Let the sunrise tomorrow and you will see.'

They were walking down towards their car. They parked their car a mile away from the water tank to cover their tracks. They reached the spot in the middle of barren land, some feet distant from the road. The passerby won't even glance there.

They arrived home and climbed up through the rope into the bedroom that they shared. Tim and Ron even lived together before they were born. They entered this world as twins, and only their birthdate was identical. All the other things were different.  

Tim and Ron were only a year away from college, but they were far ahead in the level of intellect of their counterpart. 

The newspaper mentioned nothing of the graffiti. But the social media picked up at around noon. The picture of graffiti was all over the internet. That picture would make a huge impact. 

The water tank was considered the unique landmark of that town, and the water supply came from there. Now, the problem was that one philanthropist decided to develop a sports complex at that place. The philanthropist can choose any other location for the Sports Complex, but this location had many benefits. 

But, the planning committee did not approve the plan. They will miss this golden opportunity. Tim and Ron took it upon themselves to change the opinion of that committee. 

They started doing meetings, but only a few cared about the issue, let alone support the cause. They went door to door and explained the benefit of a sports center to locals. Many arrived at the meeting. Some were curious, and some had nothing to do, and some were genuinely concerned about the issue. 

The minor support changed the mind of four committee members in the latest hearing. However, one member vetoed to halt the momentum. The twins tried to convince him, but he was hell bend on saving the water tank. The identity of the town mattered more than the town's progress.

Tim and Ron took the refuge of social media to increase awareness about the issue. They ran ads, played testimony of those who enjoy the benefit of having a Sports Complex in the town, and also made groups of like-minded people only so that Tim and Ron can influence them to support the cause.

The Twins were confident that the committee would rule in their favor after seeing huge support, but the reverse happened. Now three members went against the destruction of the water tank. 

Ron knew that something was not right. He let his inside sherlock holmes lose inside the digital world. He investigated the one member who vetoed using his digital footprint. Ron was good with computers, and coding helped him earn a scholarship to an Ivy League college. 

He nicely combed through all the details of that member and found more than three anomalies in the past month. The first anomaly: Huge sums of money transferred in an offshore account by his wife's name. The second anomaly: a flat purchased in his son's name. The third anomaly: Two small but equal shares of fund transferred to two newly created offshore accounts of the other two committee members. 

The picture was clear. Someone was giving bribes to those three committee members. Who was doing that, and why this much money for a simple sports complex. 

Ron began the deep dive and at last found the source of the money. Someone used a dummy corporation to hide the reality. Luckily, Ron solved the mystery. It was the owner of a construction company that specialized in entertainment parks. The phone of the committee member helped a lot. It had all the call recordings that painted a clear picture of what was cooking between them.

The owner of that construction company wanted to build an entertainment park. Right where the water tank stood and all the open land near it. If the philanthropist constructs the sports complex, the upcoming entertainment park will lose its place. That means the owner of the construction company will lose billions in revenue. 

So, the owner bribed that committee member who vetoed. That committee member further bribed his two colleagues, and all was set. Those three members would then pass the plan for the entertainment park. They will shift the useless water tank to another place.

Ron then vandalized the water tank with graffiti, shouting in colors. It said that: I will only relocate myself for entertainment park. Don't entice me with Sports Complex.'

The next day instead of asking who wrote it, everyone was asking what is written? The momentum built around 2 in the afternoon during lunch, and that is when Tim anonymously shared the call recordings between the owner and the committee member. 

It took only five days for the plan to get approved, and on the fifth day, the water tank was razed to the ground for the groundbreaking ceremony to ensue in the evening. Sports Complex will now be a reality for future generations to hone their skills and talents, all thanks to the persistent effort of the twins.