I heard the sirens wale. The loud speakers were directing this town’s population to go to the public shelter. “All will be safe.” The entrance’s stairway was crowded but everyone was remaining calm. Our government, when they started building these shelters, told us that they would protect all.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a very long and large room. Places to sit. Tables to eat at. On the left hand side were recesses that were for sleeping. All of those recesses were a little over six feet long, two feet high and two foot deep. They went from floor to ceiling, ten high. These were obviously for sleeping.

They looked like something that you would see in a crypt. I almost pictured those who were claiming their sleeping recesses, as they lay down to test it, as corpses. I had to look away.

To my horror, the whole other side had people sitting in chairs looking out the window at the lake that had some trees around it. When I asked the person in charge, why there were windows in a bomb shelter, I was assured that they were rated to withstand any blast that the enemy could hit us with.

I went over to that glass and rapped my knuckles against one. I could tell that it was ordinary double pane glass. I need to get out of here to somewhere that is safe. Some basement or something like that. This is a death trap.