Fear
 

Gloria left home to go to school like she did every day. And that seemed to be a day like all the others. But it was not.

Along the way, Gloria realised that something was happening. On the streets, people were agitated, talking loudly and seeming to be frightened.

Intrigued, the girl wondered what was the news. As she walked past a newsstand, she heard two women talking and, curious, stopped to listen. One said to the other:
 

	- Have you ever seen such a thing? Now the whole city is in danger! - But how did he escape? - the other one asked. - I do not know! Certainly some careless worker left the door of the cage open and he ran away! Who would have run away? Gloria decided
to ask the newsstand’s owner as he was a very nice and talkative old man.

- Mr. Antonio, "who" was it that ran away?

The old man opened his eyes very wide, raised his eyebrows and adjusting his glasses on his nose, said:

- Don’t you know, Gloria? A lion did! He escaped from the circus that arrived yesterday in the city.

- Ah! A lion! ... And is he big? - the girl asked.

- Is he big? They say he's huge! And very fierce too. Be careful when walking around town.

She thanked him for the warning and resumed walking. Now informed of what was happening, she could better understand the conversations she heard around.

She walked by two men as one of them said:

- Look, I told my wife to lock the whole house and not let our children go out into the street. The boys will not go to school until the beast has been captured.

And the other fully agreed:

- You are completely right. I once heard tell that an animal escaped from a circus and wounded two people. We cannot run the risk. I have prepared my gun already. If the animal appears, I will open fire!

Increasingly frightened, Gloria arrived at school. There all conversations were the same: they revolved around the terrible lion that had escaped from the circus.

Concerned, mothers asked teachers to take great care of their children. Others were of the opinion that the best thing would be to close the school, dismissing students from class that day, or until the problem was solved.

The children were terrified and there were screams and cries everywhere. Anyway, the ambience was a real chaos!

Teacher Gloria, a quiet woman with great common sense, gathered her students in the classroom and considered serenely:

- The best thing we can do is stay calm. Confusion only complicates and fear has a terrible power over people, preventing them from analysing and judging situations correctly. Do not worry. Rest assured that nothing will happen to us. We are safe in this building and, in any case, we must trust in God, who never abandons us. Moreover, we do not know if all this is true!

When all her students were calmer, the teacher asked them to open their books, stating:

- Let’s go to today’s lesson.

After class, as Gloria was leaving school she noted that the situation was worse. Now confusion was everywhere. Police cars roamed the streets directing people to remain in their homes. The fire department had been called and groups of armed citizens looked everywhere around town for signs of the terrible animal in order to protect the population.

When she arrived home, Gloria found her mother terrified, trembling with fear.

- Thank God you arrived, honey. I was busy with the housework and only now turned on the radio and heard the news. Are you all right? Did the lion threaten you?

Gloria, remembering what the teacher had said, said:

- Mom! Of course I'm all right! Also, my teacher said it is important to stay calm and trust in God. We should fear nothing.

As if to confirm those words, suddenly they heard a strange meowing outside the kitchen door. Thinking it was the neighbour's cat, Gloria ran to open the door that her mother had locked.
 

- What can fear do to people!

Soon, Gloria’s house was filled with people who had come to see the lion cub. The police, the press, firefighters, neighbours, curious onlookers and even the mayor as everyone wanted to see the animal up close. And seeing him, they felt a huge shame for the whole fuss that was made around the fact.

Then the owner of the circus arrived, embarrassed, and the mayor demanded an explanation:

- Why didn’t you tell us that the animal that escaped from your circus was a small, harmless lion cub?

Scratching his beard, the wily owner said:

- Well, I thought it was great advertisement for my circus. At least now, the whole town knows that we are here, isn’t it?

                                                Aunt Celia