No Fear

"Smith's got no fear."

I've heard people say that. Damn fools. They obviously didn't see my laundry basket after the first couple of firefights I was in back in Korea.

If I've got no fear how come I've not got enough spit right now to drown a gnat?

They think I'm sitting here, calm as the Buddha, idly mulling over one of my infamous plans. Hard to plan when every bit of my mind is filled up with the terror of what's coming.

Out the chopper. On the ground. Then I have no fear. Once the bullets start flying and the bombs are falling, what I have then, that can't be called fear any more. Because then I'm not even human any more. The human bits of my brain just switch off and hide for a while.

Then I no longer experience fear. I become it. And I've got a gun.

end