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seventies we had a wall between us and them, largely built upon the foundation of mutually assured nuclear annihilation. Now the wall is different, and it's built more upon a foundation of ever evaporating rights and freedoms that has given the enemy the sort of victory over us for which we were once willing to risk nuclear war. There is certainly an irony to be found in that.
The war on Communism was a war about a way of life; but the war on terrorism has become more about life itself. We now find ourselves sacrificing things we were once willing to die for in order to gain a sense of security. But at what point does that price become too high? At what point do we become the very image of our enemy?
In a way I think The Wall applies as much to the present as it did to the day when it was written, despite the changing face of the conflict in which we find ourselves embroiled. The story is a simple metaphor and can be interpreted as you see fit.
Anyway, here, for your edification, is The Wall. As with Zero-Option (also available freely on the Internet) I encourage you to distribute this work. Feel free to put it on your websites (as long as proper attribution is made) and to post it elsewhere. If you enjoy this story be sure to check out my website at www.freewebs.com/lindsaybrambles for information on my novel In Darkness Bound ( ISBN: 1-4241-6560-1 ) now widely available at online book retailers. Also check out manybooks.net for Zero-Option, downloadable for free in a multitude of formats from this excellent website.
THE WALL
By
Lindsay Brambles
"Sometimes," he said, squatting down by the fire and holding his hands to the open flame, "I think that I hear voices from the other side."
"Voices, Sartas?" someone laughed. "And what do these voices say to you, lad?"
"Were they women's voices?" asked another, his leering face looming up out of the darkness and into the sallow glow of the firelight. "Perhaps some fair-haired temptress willing to re