“It rang through February too, many years ago. The sounds of Red Alert and All Clear. How could words like ‘all clear’ sound menacing? I don’t know. Perhaps it had something to do with the moss growing on our walls. Every aperture was sealed for fear of chemical warfare. The sounds were frightening, the smells were frightening. Having to eat peanut butter jelly from sealed containers delivered by relief personnel was frightening. The feel of soft green moss growing rapidly on the walls was frightening. The uncertainty of whether mom would come back from her shift at the hospital where she worked, was frightening. War was, is frightening.”