MONSTER LOOSE

An uneasy and eerie silence has settled on my rural community.

A little girl's bicycle rests in the yard waiting on a rider who will never
return.

The dogs, ever vigilant at night, bark no more.

Go-carts and soccer balls seem to rest in the grass like sad memorials for
the children who once played with them.

The yellow tape around the house and yard remind neighbors and passers-by
that a fresh prayer needs to be sent up for the loved ones left behind to
endure the agonizing grief.

A monster took the lives of innocent children who never had the chance to
make right or wrong decisions.

They will never have the chance to "just say no."

They will never have the chance to spend endless summers with their family
and their friends.

A mind-twisting monster called crystal meth took all the joys and wonder,
all the adventures, all the talents, hopes and dreams from babies who did
not want to die.

The terror and confusion of the animals as they were being slaughtered one
by one can only be imagined.

The hand that once fed them was now taking away their lives.

Was this the work of a human or a human now turned monster at the behest of
a mind-altering drug?

Questions which might never be answered and the agonizing frustration and
sorrow will be with many in this community for a long time.

In the mid- and late summer the helicopters begin flying around like big
noisy dragonflies looking for prey.

They are searching for marijuana plants growing in the underbrush and woods
of the countryside.

Deputies dressed in military gear ride four-wheelers through the woods
searching for those little green plants.

They often find them but at what expense?

What defense does the public and law enforcers have against drugs, which
cannot be seen or detected under most circumstances.

Do we start suspecting everyone who is acting strange to be on drugs?

Do we ignore the Constitution and begin searching house to house for illegal
drugs?

I do not know the answer to the questions.

I can only express my deep desire to rid our communities, streets and towns
of drug abuse in all its many ugly and hateful forms.

Denise Parker

Gadsden