Writing and Photography by Jeff E. Brown

They were unlikely allies. And now that they were, they could use their real names with each other. It was a welcoming relief to speak openly after so many years of denial and subterfuge. The oppression still existed outside the walls but at least for this night they could feel free.

To their surprise, they found out that they had much in common: similar professions before the war, a love for the arts and distant children that they hoped to reconnect with. Neither man could get to the bottom of how they ended up there.

The arrests began a year ago and were random enough that people couldn’t predict them and thus, be on guard. It became clearer as time wore on that they weren’t strictly political but also based on personal vendettas that party functionaries and militia members had. Grudges played out on the public on an epic and shattering scale.

They talked for hours-there was nothing else to do and it seemed that if they stopped something awful might happen. This is what living in a fascist state does to the psyche. Broken families and a desolate future.

© 2021 Jeff E. Brown. All rights reserved.