Sam boarded his private jet and prepared for his flight home. He was one of the group that didn’t relish being back in touch. His cell phone and other instruments were still turned off. There was no point in calling anyone just yet. He just wanted to spend some time thinking.

When he went to bed, he was leaning against playing the contest. All of the best ideas of his life had sprung nearly fully formed into his head. When he asked what he should build he got nothing back. This was a blank spot and that drained any confidence he otherwise might have used.

A quick review of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world brought no ideas. A mausoleum seemed too dark. A temple should only be built by it’s devotees and he certainly didn’t qualify. A large statue of some kind? All he could think of was giant corporate mascots. Silly. Beneath him. Not worthy of being a Wonder of any kind.

He had rolled over in bed, put the whole thing out of his mind and went to sleep. The morning started with an alarm, subtle yet insistent. He started awake with the picture of a tower in his mind. Or rather a ‘Tower’ as his sleeping mind suggested he refer to it.

There was the idea. A huge spiraling thing. Walkways so normal people could walk all the way up into the clouds. Different levels for people with various interests. He could see the ragged clouds playing with the top.

But he still needed to flesh out the idea. There must be something to pull the whole of it together or it would be worthless. Should the Tower represent something? And what was that thing that had been at the very top? It was shining, yet stationary. Gleaming in different colors, never staying put.

James had suggested that each Wonder be tied to the maker’s home state, in his case Minnesota. Being from the least populous area would only work against Sam. He’d need something to overcome that disadvantage. Something to reach out to his fellow citizens and appeal to their pride. What if the thing on the top was…the North Star? That was already the nickname of the state. Something physically embodying that would play well. He could already see it in a flyby vision as the end-piece of a tourism commercial.

The North Star would also provide the rest of his theme. Quick flashes of insight populated different levels. The connections would be there and he trusted that people would connect the dots if he let them. He wouldn’t allow the theme to be publicized. This would make the smart people feel even smarter and ensure that they would want to show off and bring other people there to explain it to them.

Finding the land shouldn’t be a problem. His interests did quite a bit of acquisition in farm land. Finding a chunk to buy up for this would be easy. Maybe he could even use other parts of it for their windmills. This would bring in money even if the overall theme failed. Fill the rest in with parkland and he was set. This would work!

Sam finally turned on his phone. He’d call his lawyers later. The first number dialed was the executive travel desk. He booked tickets to Paris. He’d never been there before. Some kind of oversight, he supposed. He wanted to visit the most famous tower in the world and make sure that he wasn’t stealing any ideas from it.