text: Fear. He thought he understood the idea. When he was younger he had been told to not be afraid by his parents, but this was different. This was paralyzing. His parents had finally left him home alone. He fought for this right. Now, with the window broken from the outside in, and a shadowy figure making his way around the house, all he could fight for was to keep his hands steady as he dialed for the police. He strained to hear the operator over the relentless beating inside of his chest. Fear. He knew he understood the idea. But this, this was something he had never experienced. Something new. What was once an emotion reserved for times of solitude had suddenly, relentlessly even, shoved its way between him and his fiancée. The man across from him, who had already demanded his watch and wallet, looked weathered. The knife in his hand glistened with the light of flickering neon signs. He didn't care about the wallet or watch but when the attacker turned his eyes to his fiancée, that was when he knew what had to be done. The drum that was once a distraction, now played a welcome song of war. Fear. It was no longer an idea. Sitting next to her like he had done for so many years before, he knew it was close. The doctors said she could go home, she would be more comfortable there. The sound of his heart inside his chest didn't matter anymore. This was fear. The fear that comes from true helplessness. Unable to run, unable to fight. He would fearlessly take her place if he could, but he couldn't. This was fear. He longed for a time when the sound of fear was his beating heart. The sound of fear was now the sound of an electric beat. An electric beat that was ever slowing. Fear. Silence.