The Sum Of All Fears

[SteveMR200]

Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell
to everyone, but only to his friends. He has other
matters in his mind which he would not reveal even
to his friends, but only to himself, and that in
secret.

But there are other things which a man is afraid
to tell even to himself, and every decent man has
a number of such things stored away in his mind.
The more decent he is, the greater the number
of such things in his mind.

--Fyodor Dostoevski (1821-1881)
_Notes From The Underground_ [1864]

--
Steve

[SteveMR200]

On Sat, 09 Feb 2013 19:30:01 -0800, SteveMR200 wrote in message:
<tb3eh8d9kdal6rpqd...@4ax.com>:

"So what's your biggest fear?" asked Jill, trying to
keep the conversation going. . . .

"The thought of being chased through the woods by a
crazed ax murderer?" Angela finally answered.

[...]

Angela turned to me. "What about you, Maia? What's
the scariest thing you've ever seen?"

My mind slowed down for a moment, and my eyes
shifted slowly to Angela as an answer came
immediately to mind. "Uh . . . I don't think I
should say."

Both girls watched me with sudden caution. Their
demeanors betrayed that they knew they'd suddenly
trodden into unwanted territory.

"Why not?" Angela almost whispered.

The only answer I could give was the honest one.
"Because if I told you, you would wish I hadn't."

I looked away from their stunned expressions, trying
to act nonchalant. Finally, after a long pause, I
heard Jill exhale quickly in a halfhearted attempt
at laughter, but it came out awkwardly and sounded
like a nervous cough. They quickly changed the
subject.

--"Maia Peters"
(The narrator of Robin Parrish's
_Nightmare_ [2010], Chapter 1)

--
Steve