I lay still sprawled on my back on the carpet floor, barely breathing or moving. NO! I wasn't trying to commit suicide by asphyxiating. In the middle of my abdomen was a spasm that had contracted so much that the pain was almost unbearable. It was a good agonizing seven minutes before it finally subsided, leaving my abdominal muscles sore as never before. Outside the mercury rose in the sweltering Vietnamese heat as midday approached. …showed first 75 words of 603 total…

…showed last 75 words of 603 total…this is what it probably feels like so I thought. After what I just been through sleep was but evanescent. I was in retrospect. For a while during the whole episode, a sort of fear like never before had gripped me. I had overcome it. This thought was comforting it made me feel stronger from within. I had learnt that fear had to be confronted and with grit and determination any fear can be overcome!