• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Fuller stood naked in the middle of the room, his soaked clothes in a pile on the floor at his feet. The wooden parts of the house creaked and groaned against the wind. A candle on the desk across the room fluttered […]

Matter

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Steve made his way through the party to a hallway at the back of the room, picking up two small candle lanterns from the floor and handing one to Tess. “Watch your step.” Steve held his low to illuminate the way.

Matter

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

We stood watching, puzzled as the guide hacked a small wedge out of a section of Bamboo. The finished product looked like a giant flute, which he then stood on end and filled with river water. A candle fastened to the end of another six foot branch was lit and extended to the small opening, sending an ear-splitting blast echoing through the hills. The bamboo cannon, he explained, is how the poorly equipped Karen guerillas create the illusion of size and strength. The Karen National Liberation Army, engaged in a forty-year-old war for independence from Burma, uses tactics such as this to avoid direct engagement with the massive and well-armed forces of the repressive SLORC regime.

Matter

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Simon stood naked in the middle of the room, his clothes in a soaked pile on the floor. The house creaked and groaned against the wind, howling and whistling through every gap and hole. A candle on the desk across the room sputtered, trying to stay alive. Tugging at the wire from under the window to the tree just outside where he had tied one end of it tightly to the highest branch he could reach. He pulled in as much slack as he could and nailed down the the last corner of the plywood to the window frame. It was quieter now. The flame returned upright and wobbled.

Matter