Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 15:53:33 -0500 From: Phanny Subject: [WRITERS] SUB: CONTEST: A Place called Fear A Place called Fear Come take my hand, let us travel together to a time and place where fear abounded. We'll have to travel back in time to the year 1984, to New Delhi, India. Indhira Ghandi has just been assassinated, in New Delhi, by her Sikh bodyguards. The whole country is in an uproar. New Delhi is the center of that chaos. Fear grips the city, as angry mobs swarm the streets rioting and pillaging. Because of the Sikh factor in the assassination, the riots take on an ugly "religious" tone. The Hindus are determined to take 'revenge' against the Sikhs for the atrocity which has been committed. Come with me to my third floor apartment. I am living in an enclave mainly inhabited by Sikhs. Once a friendly and carefree neighborhood. Now fear slithers it's way through every nook and cranny of this place. The neighbors have gotten together and built barricades around our neighborhood. The men are taking turns guarding the entrances. The level of fear rises, like mercury in a thermometer. Fires blaze in the distance. Screams rip through the night, and the sound of explosions become all too familiar. After a couple days, the food runs out. You want me to go and buy food? ME? How will I run through the deserted streets? What if I am confronted by an angry mob? There is no other choice, so I will set out on a mission to find food. But I won't deny my fear. I can "taste" fear ...the taste of fear fills my very being!! But despite the tension, I succeed in my mission. Once back in the safety of the apartment, I sink into a chair, still unable to remove the cloak of fear. Come, it is time to sleep. But remember you must keep your clothes on, in case the doors are crashed down during the night. Sleep has become an unknown commodity, who would dare sleep? You never know if someone might try and burst in and slaughter everyone in the apartment. If only I could sleep, just be able to close my eyes without having to worry about someone breaking in on us and raping the whole lot of us. All day, we sit and hear the other women whispering about some woman who was brutally raped or some man who was murdered. Sleep plays hide and seek with me. Tossing and turning all night, the sound of the riots...the smell of fear....can you smell the fear in the air? After a few days of this, I become too tired to be afraid...do you know that can happen? Your tiredness outweighs your fear. Come with me outside, I hear noises out on the balcony. Running out to see what is happening three floors below, some men are being strapped to a tree. Oh, NO, what are those other men doing?? Please tell me they aren't dousing their victims with kerosene! My chest constricts, fear wraps its ice cold fingers around my heart. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, attempting to somehow get the men to stop this cruel and viscous act. Why are you dragging me back inside?? Let me go, don't you see, I have to do something for those men!!! What do you mean, I can't help them??? I slump to the floor, trying to comprehend that there is nothing we can do. My screaming will only alert the attackers to our presence, and they might try to break into the apartment. But can't we stop the sounds of anguish and pain? Isn't there a way to shut out the bone chilling screams? The shrill shrieks of the burning men permeate the apartment. Chills run up and down my spine, as I grasp, in a futile attempt, to cover my ears!! I feel helpless. I fall to the ground, a crumpled mass of fear, trembling. I lay still, in this place of fear. Come take my hand, let us leave this place of fear. Finally the army has arrived. We stand on the balcony and cheer!! We join with everyone and rejoice because now we are saved. See the people standing out on their balconies cheering and crying simultaneously. Relief washes over all of us, gently washing away the stench of fear. As we turn to go back inside the apartment, we consciously avert our eyes from the tree where the men died tragically, not so long ago. For now, we can leave this place called fear, with all it's torment and anguish. But the problem with the place called fear is it doesn't have a permanent address.