Grimm news

Mid February, 2013

Went to bed worried last night. There's a five year old kid being held hostage by an idiot paranoiac in Alabama. The man got on a bus and shot the driver after he tried to protect the children. The man grabbed the child and ran away. He's now hold up in his storm shelter on his property for what is now day 3 of this standoff. Of course cops and swat are swarming, unable to do anything other than hope for negotiation. It's a desperate scene becoming more so with every minute.

I'm thinking about this child. He is feeling alone and afraid with this strange man, who apparently has not harmed him. But what I am interested in is the relationship that is building between them: the monster and the child. It is an old story Grimm-like in its theme of children falling prey to adult insanity. I can only reach with my heart and soul to both of these individuals to tap into their inner reserve of humanity, plumb what's there, be present and alive.

There is a finite set of scenarios that may unfold in this story:

Scenario One: the child is released unharmed, and the man gives up to the authorities. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being most likely, I give this a four. He's well known for his paranoia, bullying and brutality. This is a sociopath whose world view is himself, only. Everyone else simply exists to torment him, including, I'm afraid, this child.

Scenario Two: He kills the child and then himself. I give this a likelihood of six. The man is sick.

Scenario Three: The child manages to escape while the man is sleeping. I give this a two. The boy has Asbergers and may not be capable first, of hatching such a plan, or second, making a sustained effort to follow through with it. Also, the boy has witnessed the man killing someone, and may well be in grave shock over the incident and his own peril.

Scenario Four: The man kills himself, leaving the child unharmed but an emotional wreck. The police storm the shelter to find the boy alive. I give this a likelihood of eight.

Scenario Five: The police storm the shelter, provoking the man to murder/suicide. Likelihood: Five. The police may be overcome with a desire to end the stand-off.

Scenario Six: The police try to tunnel into the shelter, also provoking murder/suicide. I give this a likelihood of three.

So, I think that either today or tomorrow, we will see what happens. grim, distressing stuff, this.

UPDATE: four days later. Scenario five is the closest, though the man, Dykes, was apparently killed by troopers. The boy emerged unscathed in order to celebrate his 6th birthday this week. He will have much to contend with, but he is young and resilient and will likely have a great deal of counseling. He's a very lucky kid.