Thursday, July 4, 2019

Word: John Hancock




John Hancock


noun

Hancock, John.
 
Informal. a person's signature:  
       Put your John Hancock on this check.

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               Terry looked at the image.  The Declaration of Independence in all its digitally presented glory.  More specifically, he looked at one single signature; the most famous one, that of John Hancock.  It was much bigger and more ornate than the others, and was usually what most people saw when they looked at the old document.
               Historians told a few stories about why the signature was so large.  Some gave a story about how he said his signature would be legible for the British, and that he would gain notoriety because of it.  Most said it was simply how he signed his names. 
               Terry knew that there was more to it though.  The very fact that it was how he signed everything in such an ornate manner was evidence of that.  Who signed their name like that?  Someone who was hiding something, that’s who.  He had no idea what was being hidden, but there was something.
               Those lines hid a secret that was crying out to be discovered, and Terry was the only person who realized it.  But what?  Terry was still trying to figure that out.  There was no map hidden in the ink.  Or at least, none that could be seen on the screen.  Maybe he would find something if he saw the document in person.  But that could wait until later.
               Maybe it was a calling card for some hidden organization?  Like the Illuminati or the Free Masons.  It was the flourish that made him think that.  The circle with two vertical lines was too distinctive to be anything else.  It was just so unnecessary for the purpose of signing your name that it had to mean something.  A signal to other members of whatever shadow organization Hancock may have belonged to.
               Or maybe the secret was in the ink itself, and the form was just a way of calling attention to itself?  Like, if it was viewed under a certain kind of light or with a specific lens, it would change.  But if that was the case, then there was nothing Terry could do.  He would need to original document to find anything out.  He might need the document anyway.  But that was, obviously, impossible, so he would have to hope the signature’s secret was something he could discover from behind a computer screen.
               He zoomed in as much as he could, studying the blurry, pixilated image as well as he could.  Was that oddly colored line a part of another word, or was it just the result of poor image quality?  Was that light splotch filled with meaning, or was it a stay pixel?  There was no way he could tell.  He sighed and zoomed back out.  It was clearer, but much harder to see the hidden details. 
               Terry leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.  He was getting nowhere.  The secrets of John Hancock’s signature were eluding him.  But he knew it was there.  He knew it down to his very bones.  Knew it like he needed air to live.  The problem was not a lack of secrets, no.  His problem was the lack of equipment.  He needed better equipment to study the documents with.  He needed the actual document in front of him.  Things to analyze them.  Ways of studying the old papers that went far beyond what he could do with a home PC and Google. 
               Terry firmed his resolve and started planning how he could acquire such things.  He still had a lot of work to do if he was going to find the truth. 
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Ah, conspiracy nuts.  Is there any form of entertainment better?  Okay, yeah, there is, but still.  Some of these guys can be pretty fun to watch.  Such ridiculous ideas, and they stand by them with absolute certainty.  It's great fun to watch, as long as you have enough common sense to not be taken in by them.

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