Fear (Rough Draft)

Amongst the stream of possibilities, many result in the eulogies and epitaphs of deceased aspirations as opposed to deceased individuals. The dreams many hope to sculpt into reality do not stay isolated to the minds of the young. Children and adults alike aspire to reach certain self-appointed goals. Unfortunately, the possibility of failure constructs timed explosives from even the smallest of aspirations or tasks, wires them with simple choices in the form of multicolored threads, provides the set of pliers, and steps back to see whether or not lives will be saved or taken. A great majority of worries is akin to the minor dilemmas received as life and death situations, including job interviews, homework assignments, social predicaments, and family disputes. These “little things” act like precious passing seconds while trapped underwater. Even the most mentally stable can suffer only so many before finally drowning.

Like a savage hound, most shy away from fear and go through all costs to avoid it. Others approach from a different angle, strangle it with a leash of chain, and demand it obeys the orders issued to it. The individual holding the beast’s chain always resides in a more able position than the one cowering away, and people have discovered this offset to the balance of power through time. The atmosphere of an interrogation room displays one of many applications of this facet of fear perfectly. A person knows they are under a knife when they awake to find themselves helplessly bound to a chair in a room that screams solitude and tension, lit only by a bulb bright enough to illuminate the silhouette of another figure. Desperate to rid themselves of the pressure and tempted by the offering of a painless way out, people suddenly become much more willing to spew answers to questions they would otherwise be reluctant to answer when forced into such a scenario. Unfortunately, utilizing fear as a razor sharp edge is not a talent held solely by those with moral intentions. The Taliban, the group that mercilessly controlled Afghanistan for five years, spread their white plague through vulgar, public displays of their self-appointed right to power over the people. Although mischievous and corrupt, fear can become a knife at others’ throats used to force agreement with even the most twisted ideals.

A creature that shifts shapes, it takes the form of the gun at the head of the man spilling answers to avoid spilling blood, the specters whispering to insomniacs, life’s most tragic accidents, or the possibility of failure. The reaction these things draw establishes the constant we know as fear.