War/Peace. Matthew Vandenberg

have even told you about the place. This is silly, Shelly. We have no idea what's going on. Right now, we just gotta play it safe. We can go there, take some more shots, study the area. Then maybe we'll find something out.'

      'We've gotta go in,' I say. 'Look: I'm sending Big Brother a message. He can access the Facebook pages of Adrian, Shaun, whoever and he'll see that we're friends of theirs. I have to try and get in touch with them.'

      'How will he be able to access the Facebook pages if we can't?' Jerri asks. 'He's in the south too.'

      'Maybe he's not,' I say. 'Maybe he's overseas.'

      'Let's hope he's not in China,' Jerri says. 'We might as well be.'

      'This place scares me,' Danielle says. 'Seriously.'

      'Me too,' I say. 'But look.' - I point again at the BlackBerry screen. - 'It says: they believe in transparency, like the founders of Facebook. To quote Eric Schmidt, Google CEO: “If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place*.” That's why this is a place where people mingle, and speak their minds, where the world is their audience, where freedom of speech is a right. Does this sound like a place where they kill people? Seriously?'

      'There are some people in the north who . . .' Danielle remarks.

      'Danielle!' Jerri interrupts. 'We went to school with Adrian, with Shaun, with Jamie. These are north-siders. Don't go telling me they're evil. I've heard enough of that from the pastors.'

      'Yeah,' I say. 'Look. I'm a Catholic, through and through, but the church has way too much power now, Danielle. Things don't seem right here in the south.'

      'And you think this beach house is the solution?' Danielle says. 'How could north-siders be living in a beach house, here in the south anyway? How have the authorities not raided the place yet?'

      'Money,' I say. “Perhaps they're being paid to stay away.'

      'Money!' Danielle says. 'You're sounding like a capitalist now.'

      'Maybe she has a point,' Jerri says. 'Think about it, the north-siders believe in freedom of speech, and all those things Americans believe in, like democracy. The idea of democracy's pretty popular last I heard, despite what the church is telling us. Remember in high school when they told us about that Burmese woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was a democracy icon for the people in Burma? These Burmese people wanted democracy, and not to be ruled by the military, just like how we don't want to be ruled by the church right now . . .'

      'But . . .' Danielle protests.

      'And,' Jerri continues. 'Just like how we don't want to be ruled by the American military. Maybe we want the same thing as the north-siders, freedom. And maybe a country like Japan is giving money to the Catholic churches in the south in order to maintain diplomatic relations with Sydney's south.'

      'That's just what they were teaching us in high school,' Danielle says. 'It has nothing to do with what's happening now.'

      'Maybe it does,' I say. 'And Japan might only be providing so much aid to the south on the condition that safe houses are built and maintained so that any stranded north-siders have a place to go.'

      'You're crazy,' Danielle says. 'Both of you.'

      ******

      References

      1 Pack Up – Eliza Doolittle

      2 All I Want For Christmas – Hurts

      3 $Marshall, A. (2010). Postcard: Bangkok. Behind the scenes of a tribute to Burma's democracy icon. Time, 176(26), 11.

      4 *Grossman, L. (2010). Manifest Destiny. Time, 176(26), 30-55.

      5 $$Oishi, M., & Furouka, F. (2003). Can Japanese Aid be an Effective Tool of Influence? Case Studies of Cambodia and Burma (Case Study 2: Burma). Asian Survey, 43(6), 890-907.

      SHELLY FREEMAN - 11:11am - December 13 - 2011

      'She's the definition of a lady,' I say. 'She who can walk into a room and turn heads, shy, withdrawn, composed, and calm, fragile, but determined, wise, diligent, and competent. She's remarkable, this Aung San Suu Kyi. She's a fighter, a role model, an icon. She's got short, dark gold hair with a lick so shiny and prominent, flawless skin, a remarkably piercing gaze that's simultaneously warm and gentle. And most importantly, she's a peacemaker. Have you never wanted to be someone just like her?'

      'Like a spy, maybe?' Danielle asks. 'You saying we should spy on the north-siders?'

      'No,' I say. 'We should just talk to them. Hang with them. We know they're not so bad. Let's just try to understand them. Let's spend Christmas in the house, that's what I'm saying.'

      'Shelly, the joint is probably like some kind of nightclub, and you just wanna waltz into the place? What if Adrian isn't there, nor Shaun? We don't have the faintest clue what the people in there will be like? All we know is that the people in the north are under the rule of the Yanks now. This is not good.'

      'Can show you guys something?' I ask, unzipping a knapsack.

      'What?' Danielle asks.

      'Look: my pastor thinks I have always lived in the south, and that I was in the north recently only because I was spreading the good word to lost souls,' I state. 'In fact, he has given me permission to venture forth into the north again. He thinks I might be able to convince some people to come over to the south, to become Catholic. This guy truly believes that a massive earthquake or volcano will wipe out the people in the north soon.'

      'I know,' Jerri says. 'I've heard.'

      'What have you got there?' Danielle asks.

      'This' – I hold up a plastic bag – 'is a bag full of mushrooms. Ever seen Alice in Wonderland?'

      'Of course.'

      'Well: the pastor says that the Wollongong church is at the end of a yellow brick road, and that I am to lead people down this road. Now I haven't tried these mushrooms, but they're the magic type. Should you consume some you will have a profound, mystical experience, feel interconnected with all people and things: you will feel joyous, light and free. So I think that if I enter the beach house with these mushrooms and our pastors find out where we are they will not punish us because we can just say that we were trying to spread the good word to some non-believers. We can act like fools.'

      'Richard Alpert,' Jerri says, shaking her head.

      'Who?' Danielle asks.

      'Um . . . a researcher at Harvard in the 60's, gave psilocybin to a student off-campus. I'm guessing that the Catholic church has no problem with this type of behavior: anything to promote spirituality.'

      'Which can be a good thing,' Danielle says.

      'Sometimes,' I say. 'Eating these mushrooms can increase one's self-confidence, and we all know this would help Adrian and Jamie, and decrease one's nervousness, and increase one's overall well-being.'

      'We gotta go in,' Jerri says. 'C'mon Danielle!'

      'No,' Danielle replies. 'No. Sorry.'

      'Then it's just us two,' I say. 'Yeah?'

      'Sure,' Jerri says.

      ******

      References

      1 Griffiths, R. R., & Grob, C. S. (2010). Hallucinogens as Medicine. Scientific American, 303(6), 76-79. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1210-76

      2 9 To 5 – Lady Sovereign

      3 Marshall, A. (2010). Postcard: Bangkok. Behind the scenes of a tribute to Burma's democracy icon. Time, 176(26), 11.

      4 Fighter – Christina Aguilera

      5 Randall, C., [Writer and Director] Catanzariti, D., [Actress] Castle-Hughes, K., [Actress] & Collette, T. [Actress] (2008). Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.

      JACKSON CURTIS – 12:40pm - December 17 - 2011