Hikers visiting Jay's Peak in northern Vermont report former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has gone into exile at the summit.
Rupert Latimore, a 52-year-old cross-country skier visiting from Ontario, says he saw Sanders standing atop a rocky ledge and gazing off into the distant horizon. "He looked very haggard and sullen... He had this great big beard. I don't remember him having a beard before."
Jake and Selena Kershaw, a young married couple road-tripping together from South Carolina, report that they had crossed paths with Sanders near a rest shelter along one of the hiking trails. They struck up a conversation with the reticent Sanders and asked him what he was doing atop the mountain. According to the Kershaws, he replied, "Waiting... Waiting for the right time for the political revolution." Turning around, Sanders then walked into the trees and vanished.
Prior to his scattered appearances atop Jay's Peak, Sen. Sanders had not been seen since the summer. On July 21 as reality TV star Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for the Presidency, CNN and Politico reported that Sanders stopped suddenly in the middle of a rally and solemnly stated, "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror... and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." After conceding the Democratic nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sanders disappeared.
Upon receiving word of his reappearance at the mountain's summit, journalists scoured the area to search him out. For some days, the only time Sanders was spotted was by a Philadelphia reporter in a helicopter. The reporter claimed she saw Sanders sitting cross-legged in a snowy clearing and levitating enormous boulders using the Force. A snow squall appeared and only minutes later, Sanders had vanished.
Only one journalist, a Boston-area ABC affiliate, was able to track him down. Sanders was found outside a small hut he had built as a crude home and invited the journalist in. After sharing a meal of matzo ball soup, the journalist asked, "Bernie, why have you gone into exile? The world is going mad. We need you."
Sanders, gazing into the fire at the hearth, replied, "I must become one with the Force. The Force is yuge. It surrounds us, binds us all togethah. Its powah is immeasurable. One day, when the Force tells me it is time... we will fix the system. One day."
Since that meeting, the only evidence of Sanders' presence on the mountain has been a cloaked silhouette standing at the peak at twilight. When he may rejoin society is uncertain. However, those who have spoken with him seem optimistic that one day when we need him most... he will return.
