NOT KNOWING
The subtle fear of not knowing what lies ahead, has come into the lives of thousands of people living in the DC area, the edge of Maryland and here in Northern Virginia.
If a person can see their enemy they can focus on some way of getting rid of the danger they are under, but if the force opposing them is unseen, totally invisible then, the situation is altered greatly.
I recall a time when I was a victim of such fear. I was not alone but with thousands of citizens of Norfolk and Suffolk Counties, East Anglia in England during the rocketry phase of World War II. That was about fifty -nine years ago, but I remember the feeling quite well. It is happening to many of us again now during the era of repeated murders in this area.
When the Nazi's first started lobbing V-1 missile across the North Sea, it took them several weeks to find the proper range which would place their new secret weapons with their particular band of packaged Hell in the London area. In the meantime, it seemed they lobbed them, somewhat indiscriminately, into East Anglia as if to prove to themselves they could do it.
The first ones came in under the cover of darkness, at about 2000 hours and we soon learned that another would follow in an hour at 2100 hours. Then, there might be one on the next hour, or their might not be, but the “anticipation” of that moment - we dared not call “fear” then, was overbearing. At twenty minutes before the hour people began to figit, laugh nervously, some becoming irritable but trying not to talk or think about it and what might happen – from out of nowhere, without warning and with no assailant either seen or heard.
That's typical of one type of fear which as come to be common among those who live in the current afflicted area. Facing unknown danger is never a time of comfort, but the unreasoned pattern of these killing makes its seem possible that we may be the next victim. This sniper has mobility so anyone living within a hundred miles of the specific area can see himself or herself as a potential victim.
I point this memory of fear out because this is a subtle kind of being afraid we do even admit to members of the family around us. We feel it, but we hide it from others lest we appear to be foolish, needlessly cautious or overly concerned about something that is not all likely to happen anyway.
At the moment, a total of at least eleven people might well have thought themselves to be unlikely victims, as well.
A.L.M. October 14. 2002 [c464wds]
