Asylum
Asylum (n) institute for the insane; alt. haven, a place of safety
by
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"Man . . . Phillip, just shut up and listen! They took a vote last night." He paused. "The next bullet's for you, man." "For you." "Phillip, this is no joke. You're dead!" The crawling sensation down my spine surprised me: I thought that happened only in novels. I had been scared before; fear was a constant companion, the last three years, but this was different. "Rolf?" He was gone. Taking the phone from my ear, I stared dumbly at its hard black surface, struggling to make sense of the call. Was it genuine? Who, or what, was behind it? Did Rolf not know, or care, that the security police tapped my phone? Or did the security police put him up to it? Perhaps it was just another threat? There had been threats, many threats: phone calls, graffiti on my walls, a small bomb thrown at my house, late at night, and some shots fired, but that was just intimidation; everybody understood it was part of the game -chicken - who would blink first? Yet this was different. The stress in Rolf's voice was real. The feeling of impending disaster that had oppressed me the last few months was real. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I had just blinked.
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About the Book
Life is cheap and insecure in a country where personal freedom is handed out by an oppressive government to a privileged few. During the infamous Apartheid era in South Africa, an occasional white voice was heard speaking out on behalf of the persecuted black population. However, such opposition to a brutal regime often drew harsh reprisals. This is the story of one white man who lived in a rural backwater where there was no place to hide from the consequences of his opposition to racial injustice, the price he paid and the odyssey in his harrowing quest for asylum in the United States.
About the Author
Phillip Thal took a stand against the oppressive white regime in the Apartheid era of South Africa. This is his story. Edward Thal is a former marketing executive who now lives in the Washington D.C. area where he teaches in a private Christian School. The two brothers shared a common disdain for the political structure in South Africa. They have collaborated on this harrowing story to provide a shocking insight to a time and a place once heralded as a bastion of white civilization.