Fear

Author's Note: My first night in my new room I hear sounds outside. Crashes, squeaks, and the darkness, fill my dreams. I wake up to see construction on the neighbor's house and the heater under my room. Lesson learned: Fear lasts for a day at the most.

On your way home from work, you approach the shortcut to your house. It is a dark alley where strange people are rumored to hang out, and where a man supposedly got struck twice by lightning. The alternative is a 4 block route around the neighborhood. You start to walk forward, toward the shortcut. As you reach the half way point, you congratulate yourself for making it this far. Then, you drop to the ground. You hear a loud crash and a car brake squeak. The building on your right starts to collapse. You run forward and out of the alley. When you open the door, you hop inside and slide down the back of the door. You should be happy to have made it home, but you aren't. You are scared.

Bloodcurdling, creepy, eerie, alarming, chilling, horrendous, hair-raising, and spooky. These words swarm in your mind when you are on the edge of your chair. Whether you are watching a scary movie or hearing a storm outside, your nerves kick in and take control of your mind. Your senses are out of control.

First, your nerves have taken over your sense of touch. Every table that you crash into, every doorway that you hit seems like the end. You jump out of your chair when your dog comes up to your feet. Everything knocks you off balance and you are always terrified to turn around and look.

Next, your sight is blurry. Your head snaps around at the funny things in the night. Your eyes hurt from looking in too many directions and you might pass out if you keep this up. You are tempted to keep your eyes closed all day, but that may make you more frightened. Is it worth the risk?

Your hearing, how is it? You wouldn't know because your hands are covering your ears, then you stop and realize you don't have big enough hands to protect your eyes too! The noises hurt your ears, and you shake with every scream, crash, and explosion as if you were experiencing them yourself. The pain in your ears slowly fades because the fear has taken over once again and you can't hear a thing.

Lastly, smoke fills the air and breathing becomes difficult. A taste comes into your mouth that you didn't have before. Is it possible to eat flames? Your mouth burns, and your nose is frozen. You cannot breath. You remember to stop and drop, but once you are on the ground you are a statue. Your mind fills with panic and you can only lay there.

Fear can change people permanently. You may not leave your house for years, or never open that closet in the basement. You may flinch whenever you see a flame, or even leave the room. In some cases, your mind might turn demonic, and it may begin to enjoy your phobia. People are tormented by fear. They live their lives terrified of something happening that is out of the ordinary. If you are in this war, it is impossible to win. In the back of your mind, your phobia haunts you. The only thing you can do is stand up straight and put on a fake smile.

To conquer a fear you have to change yourself as a person. You have to first create and image of your self, one that you are never scared. Then, over your life time you must change your self to be that image. You can try and depending on the fear, you may be able to overcome it. There are some fears, however that will dwell in your mind for the rest of your life and haunt you.

Author's Note: Book responses are boring. That was putting it simply, so since this is such a fictional book, I decided to put you into it. It will leave you guessing what will happen next, every time you put it down. I also would like to showcase the little acts of kindness that make our day, and the one in this book that made me smile.
To miss death by an inch, several times, is a great feat. When there are traitors everywhere and there is a 200,000 Galleon price on your head, it becomes even more impressive. Now, imagine putting up with this every day. You and your two best friends (who have enough problems to deal with) decide to run away. Escape –verb (used without object) to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty.
Casting protective spells around your tent, you set out to find some berries and fish in the woods for dinner, when the taboo is used. Some one said his name, the greatest wizard of all time, has been disrespected. The death eaters come, wands at the ready. You try to fight, but your feeble attempts are no good. From the tree that they have cursed you back into you hear them talking to each other excitedly. "Oi! We've got Potter!"
You have been found, and you are to die. Lord Voldemort awaits your arrival, and you have no more protection. Your friends? Fighting for their lives. Your headmaster? Killed by a fellow teacher before he could tell you anything useful. You are alone, and will do your best to save the entire wizarding world. A death eater comes up to you, as you are laying on the ground, one of your enemy's mother. She was sent to check to see if you are alive. You are in pain and you're ready to be discovered. No one has ever shown kindness to you before, and this particular women has tried to kill you, earlier in the year. She leans down next to your face and says, "Is Draco alive, is he in the castle?" in no more than a whisper.
She s referring to her son, who you saw earlier. If she turns you in, it's all over. You decide to trust her, you might as well do some good in the world in your last few seconds. Her face lights up, as she announces you are dead. She lied to save you, for a small piece of information. What has this world become?
You are alive. You are safe. You can go, and save your friends, and save innocent lives from being taken.
This is the life of Harry Potter.
Sources: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

Word: Match

Authors Note: Have you ever watched pro-wrestling? It is violent and vicious, no offense to any fans out there. This was a word association piece, but I felt like it needed more emotion. Next time that you watch pro-wrestling, really think about what is going on in the wrestlers minds. Tell me how you would feel.

You are standing in the center of the red arena, waiting for your opponent to come out. From where he will do this, you do not know. It could be under, over, or behind you, and you are not scared. "COME ON! FIGHT!", you shout, your voice mirroring your emotions. The crowd goes wild. You are ready. You have been preparing for this for long, hard years. Years spent training and not talking to anyone but coach. It is not your first time in the ring, but this is the first time it matters. Today you will not only be representing your team, and fighting the biggest, strongest, and most popular wrestler on the opposite team. You will be fighting your brother. You raise your arms out, to show how big you are. He smirks, as he is a foot taller and wider than you. He runs a few steps back, and you are startled. Your coach said that he would start with this move, but you are not ready. The crowd is up on their feet, and you see a child watching on his father's shoulders. You take a second to remember when this was you, years back. Those were the same years when you and your brother fought in the living room for fun, not money. By recalling this memory, you gave your opponent a huge advantage, you have no time to spare. He charges and you swing a punch, but you're knocked to the ground . The mass on top of you is too much for you to handle. Your arms go limp and your entire chest is throbbing. Your vision goes blank, and you feel excruciating pain in your head, the only thing you can hear is the announcer say your name and then, "...has finally met his match..."

Authors Note: The Giver, by Lois Lowry, takes place in a world where no one has feelings. It is a book in a dystopic world, and I would like to refect on where dystpoia really is. Oh, and by the way, it is supposed to be depressing.

Tomorrow
The food will run out
The lights will turn off, and wont come back on
The days will get shorter when we have more work to do
The people you see, might not be there the next day
Everyone will be treated the same, if not at all
Some will simply give up
The animals will flee
The plants will stop growing
The water will be sparse
Everyday objects will not be used anymore
There wont be enough to live for
Some will simply give up
The world will have no government
The trends will die out
Mothers and Fathers wont matter
Memories will fade
And even with each others help,
Some will simply give up

Today
Our population is growing
Our love is getting stronger
Our families are healthy
We are working towards goals
Our dreams are brilliant
There is nothing we can't do
Our children are intelligent
Our hands hold loads
Our scientists know a better way of life
Our knowledge is full
Our bodies are fit
There is nothing we can't do
Our minds think outside the box
Our teachers are learning too
Our days hold plenty of fun
There is nothing we cant do
If we work together we could,
Possibly stop tomorrow from coming

Inspired by the Hunger Games, The Giver, and all other
books taking place in Dystopia