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Contemporary

The sound of rain on the windows just woke up Arya, who opened her eyes around noon and hurriedly took out her smartphone to check her social networks.

 She wanted to know which shoes and hairstyles she's top rated to wear on that special day at the start of an entertainment institution's reality show contest in which she was participating.

He ran to the bathroom and then to the kitchen....while drinking coffee, he accessed the link to follow the live of the first day of the contest entitled “challenge of fear”, in which each day a participant would face the challenge of his/her own fear for 24 hours, and would win the most voted by the public...

Arya, 30 years old, single, suffered from paranoid personality disorder and had difficulties relating to people, single, 30.

She lived alone.

She was struggling to overcome her fears and accepted joining the social network trying to overcome her social block.

Her turn to face her challenge would be on the sixth day. She couldn't control her anxiety.

1:55pm.

At 2pm the first participant would start the challenge.

Cameras turned on.

All online attentive, with the aid of drones around the location of each day participant. Who could get the most votes?

Besides the prize, who could conquer their fears in 24 hours?

DAY ONE: DARKNESS

KIRUNA, SWEDEN, December the 31th, 2pm.

Olaf would have to face 24 hours inside a mansion in the countryside; to do so, he needed to overcome his fears of the supernatural world.

That was the last day of winter, when the sun would only rise at 11:38am the next day.

All the doors and windows should be closed and he could only use candles to get himself to the bathroom and to Walk in the house.

His heart was beating fast.

His face dripped sweat, while he heard noises everywhere and dreamed desperately for the sunrise, which would be within 21h 38min.

Olaf, 30 years old, single, psychologist.

He was of an introspective temperament, and he loved people, but he was phobic about the supernatural and would like to overcome this personal drama.

At that moment, he wanted to think about waterfalls, beaches, gardens, summer, but he just remembered all the horror and thriller movies he had ever seen.

A shiver accompanied him at every step...

But he calmed down, concentrating and praying and singing hymns to God...

The next morning, when the noise of the wind woke him, he already felt relieved; he thought the experience was so worthwhile that he decided one day to return to that mansion to meet the real residents.

DAY TWO: SKY

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, USA, January, the 1st, 2pm.

On the One Trade Center helipad, Damarcus had before him the challenge of facing his acrophobia, having around him the entire sky of Manhattan, being 418 meters above the ground; his muscles quivered at the sight and he remembered when his father had fallen with him in an accident near the Grand Canyon while they were riding in a balloon when he was 10 years old; the challenge was difficult, but the vision ended up reassuring him, feeling very close to the heavens; his fears were being addressed here, far away from the urban frenzy.

THIRD DAY: SEA

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS, USA, January, the 2nd, 2pm.

Riey had the challenge of staying 24 hours on a small boat on the beach, trying to overcome his thalassophobia; with the immensity of the sea around her, the butterflies in her stomach grew as she remembered the sea monsters; she started to feel nauseous.

How would the night be? What if the sharks showed up? Panic invaded her mind as she looked at that immensity of the sea, but she felt confident in overcoming her fears and becoming stronger.

The wind was blowing softly that afternoon.

Several people were following Ryen's adventure on the sand, hoping that She would win.

Several banners and posters with phrases about overcoming difficulties and faith.

DAY FOUR: ANIMALS

IRANDUBA, MANAUS, BRAZIL, January, the 3rd, 2pm.

Tabata needed to overcome her snake phobia and was living in a house for 24 hours with an anaconda, which the team periodically fed by rats.

Tabata heart was beating fast and she vomited several times looking forward to the morning of the next day.

After a few hours, Tabata´s pressure dropped and he felt dizzy with fear.

She couldn't resist and locked herself in her room and couldn't get out until the end of the challenge.

FIFTH DAY: IMMENSION

NAGOYA, JAPAN, January, the 4th, 2pm.

Yuki needed to overcome his agoraphobia on the world's largest planetary, having a 360º screen with the stars flashing around his.

He required yoga and group therapy sessions before accepting the challenge.

He brought food, sleeping clothing and antidepressants and had a thirty in his hand that never left him.

When seeing the immension in 3D so clear before him.

He had some blood pressure shots and peaks of breakthrough...

But as the hours went by, the vision of the cosmos soothed him so much that he ended up dreaming of being Icarus.

You had wings and flew through the air.

When he woke up, he felt victorious and grateful to God.

 SIXTH DAY: HELL

VALE DO ANHANGABAÚ, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL, January, the 5th, 2pm.

Arya, 30 years old, single, writer.

She had as her challenge to face her paranoid personality disorder, living 24 hours with someone totally unknown in her apartment. Around 2pm, she ran to the window to see if the designated person, also a contest participant, was approaching.

Two men passed on the sidewalk with hurried steps, serious faces and looking at the ground.

It was cold on that unexpected cold front.

The two men, one black, one blond, all middle aged; seeing them, Arya despised them in her heart, but wished it were the blonde, as she did not have much sympathy for blacks, as she remembered in her childhood a case in the neighborhood in the rural area in which her father, a fair and recognized lawyer, he had defended the cause of a black man wrongfully accused of rape; although he had been judicially found not guilty, she had always harbored a doubt in her heart about that situation and She started to feel prejudice in her heart.

Thinking of her childhood, lost in her thoughts, the intercom rang.

She ran to the window, the man was wearing a hat, so that she could not observe his features.

Back to the intercom, after identifying him as the selected member of the contest to share that challenge with her, Arya authorized Achilles to come up.

opening the door, she was enchanted by the white skin of the stranger, 30 years old, blue eyes the color of the sea.

Arya shivered through her entire body, adrenaline like a sap energizing her veins and her heart pounding.

Upon entering, after a few minutes of introduction and icebreaking, Arya introduced the apartment and they began to talk about her preferences and opinions.

Arya was hot-tempered, dominant.

Achilles was introspective, patient.

She liked soccer, He volleyball.

She loved red meat, he was vegan.

She was of rural and humble origin.

He was born in the capital of the upper middle class, son of doctors.

She was laid-back with practical everyday things.

He was methodical and perfectionist.

After dinner, with the help of good wine, the conversation animated and Achilles felt identified with Arya.

Suddenly, He embraced her gently.

She froze, feeling her blood freeze in her veins and leaving her without reaction or words. When he recovered, he ran to the bathroom to take a deep breath and, when faced with the mirror, with the door ajar, he stared in the mirror at the reflection of the billboard on the other side of the street, in which a man with huge eyes and giant glasses seemed to startle in 3D, as if it seriously enhances her.

That image cast an insight into Arya.

She regretted everything she was doing, looking at herself in the mirror, She realized the madness of being with a stranger in her apartment in order to win an award through a vote.

What if Achilles was a pervert?

What if he was a serial killer?

An aggressive man?

At that moment, Arya despised her attitude and sounded cold to know that she would spend the night with Achilles, a stranger, albeit in separate rooms.

Upon returning to the room, Arya had no more words and the night was over.

The next morning, Achilles felt freed through that spontaneous  hug from the night before, but Arya strongly despised him.

When the contest ended, Arya received the most votes and won the prize of $1,000,000.00, but disappointed with the institution “society”.

She made her decision.

She disconnected from all social media and began to face her fears on her own.

A year later, she managed to rent the mansion in Kiruna, Sweden, for a year.

There she would like to get away from any social network and take an inner journey in the discovery of human value.

Arya arrived at the mansion in Kiruna on the last day of winter.

The sun would rise the next day, January 1st; and in her heart she was glad to face her fears head-on.

The frigid air around the mansion and the rustic atmosphere made her forget the hustle and bustle of São Paulo.

She was happy to be alone, away from society, away from social media and close to herself. Who knows, a year from now, She would be able to go back to her life recognizing the value of herself and others?

Arya snuggled quietly in front of the fireplace when, suddenly, the doorbell rang.

July 17, 2021 02:19

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