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Drabble Corner

Michelle Swisz

This month's theme is FEAR

Fear By Bryony Preece Why won't those two stupid girls stop giggling? Just read the magazine. "Te-he-he. " Please let me slap them. "Te-he-he." "Shut up!" I scream internally. Just read the magazine. Perspiration beads in the hollow of my neck and trickles down my back. "Te-he-he." Somebody stop them! Read the Goddamn magazine. "Te-he-he " What's the matter with, them can't they feel it? I'm going to be sick. Oh God, when will this end? I pry a clammy hand free from the armrest tighten my belt so I have difficulty breathing, and look out the window. We are still on the tarmac.

It seems that lately, if fear doesn't show up uninvited, then impatience often does. We fall under the illusion that patience is overrated. But impatience keeps us from looking beneath the impossibly simplistic black and white answers hovering close to the surface of our questions, large and small, and sometimes from considering any answers other than that first one that we just happened to come up with. In our impatience, we don't stop to ask ourselves what we need to be, do, or have in order to get through the day graciously. We may not take time to look into others' eyes, to really see what's behind a seemingly less-than-forthcoming response to our sometimes impatient expressions of concern. We don't gather enough in-depth information on which to make decisions on how our actions, large and small, impact the rest of the world. We don't stop to develop a bigger picture before declaring a position. And when anyone else does any of these things, whatever position we take toward them is likely to be adversarial.

March's theme: Impatience. February's theme is already set for Reunions. Here are the Drabble guidelines, again, to check as always before writing. Thank you for all of your responses. I hope everyone has felt the spirit of the holiday season.

Email your drabbles to me at drabble@wvu.org.

See you again next time,
Michelle