“What was once a home she had taken apart one piece at a time, one day...She sold her belongings for money to buy food. First the luxuries: a small statue, a picture. Then the items with more utility: a lamp, a kettle. Clothes left the closet at a rate of a garment a day…she burned everything in the basement first; then everything in the attic. It lasted weeks, not months. Though tempted, she left the roof alone. She stripped the second floor, and the stairs. She extracted every possible calorie from the kitchen. she wasn’t working alone, because neighbourhood pirates simultaneously stole anything of value outside: door and window frames, fencing, stucco. They pillaged her yard. Breaking in was a boundary her neigbours had not yet crossed. But the animals had. Rats and mice and other vermin found the cracks without much effort. Like her, they sought warmth and scraps of food. With great reluctance, she roasted the ones she could catch. She spent her nights fighting off the ones that escaped.” LossHistoryViolenceSacrificeHatredDescriptiveSenseless ViolenceEye OpenerFrontline Journalist Book:Magenta Source: Magenta
“She polished her words like smooth river rocks lying perfectly organized in brilliant rainbow shades under crystal clear, slow moving water.” LossHistorySacrificeHatredVictimsDescriptivePerspectivesSenseless ViolenceEye OpenerFrontline Journalist Book:Magenta Source: Magenta
“Then Drago began the deliberate, precise, business-like process of killing. A knee-buckling burst of fire and flash laid waste to men and material within seconds. A Panhard vehicle to Silva’s left simply disappeared in an explosion that spraying metal parts willy-nilly in every direction in a spread so thorough that Drago thought they were under fire, and he yelled at his men to respond. Another blast destroyed a six-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, but it didn’t break it apart; it simply expanded as if swollen or bloated, like an air mattress or inflatable toy, though it still had weight and quickly collapsed over its own suspension. Some trucks were overturned; a Jeep flipped end-over-end. None were left unscathed. In short order, what had been ten or twelve vehicles were reduced to a single steaming and smoking pile of metal.” LossViolenceHatredCivil WarIntriguingVictimsPerspectivesPage TurnerSenseless ViolenceBalkan Book:Magenta Source: Magenta