CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Where are they? Where are they? I need that professor's information!"

"Did you say something?" asked the woman in the administration office.

"Oh, no, ma'am. I was looking for Lenny and Zane. They're friends of mine." The woman nodded, giving an odd look.

"I'm sorry. They don't work here any longer. In fact, I don't think they attend school here at UNO any longer."

Without a word, the individual turned and left the building. The need was so great, so tempting, they were almost willing to do it themselves.

Traipsing across campus, pushing fellow students aside, their own fears were creeping up. Breathing was becoming difficult, vision was blurred, and the blood was pumping at an alarming rate.

"Get home. Get home. Get home. Get home."

"Did you say something?" asked a male student. "Are you okay?"

"Go away!"

"Fuck. I was just trying to help."

"Home. Home."

Repeated over and over again, it was like a song that kept their feet on the ground. Opening the door to the apartment, the stark furnishings were a reminder of the many phobias plaguing the mind.

Fear of intimacy. Fear of wood. Fear of television. Fear of music. Fear of red meat. Fear of milk products. Fear of telephones.

There seemed to be nothing they were not afraid of. Nothing except anonymity.