I thought the coming year would be the same as the last few. I was wrong. All of that went askew the moment I spied the men in white camouflage sneaking from pine tree to pine tree down the mountainside into my neighborhood.

No more casual lunches with friends. No more family parties. No more going to church on my own. No more going to bed at my regular time, alone. Since 8: 33 that morning, I have lived in constant upheaval. Death threats and outrageous accusations fly my way from every direction. Never would I have believed I would be arrested…twice…for nothing more than being a Christian in a shockingly new unchristian country. Never could I have imagined I would sit before Senators to answer for my supposed acts of sedition. Accused of murder? Impossible. And I certainly didn’t expect to find love again in the midst of turmoil. Yet there my handsome man stands, purposely out of camera view. Even so, his encouragement doesn’t stop me from wringing my hands. At this moment, I find myself sitting across from Morris Danby, the reporter for Fulton Media, about to be interviewed for a nationally televised news show. I wait, with every nerve skittering, for the red light on the camera to signal me.

I agreed to this interview, but nobody can convince me my cooperation will stop the ugliness I see threatening on the horizon.