War of the Worlds

“The eyes are black and gleam like a serpent. The mouth is V-shaped with saliva dripping from its rimless lips that seem to quiver and pulsate.”
If ever I lived on that time where the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) aired the said “War of the Worlds”, I would probably panic. Maybe not really so panic, to think that New Jersey is far from Makati, Philippines, but to hear that the those extra-terrestrial are fast on destroying man and communications lines, maybe at that time I would already look for a safe place to hide.
The drama was convincing. Of course, people would believe, because radio was the only way of communication. Maybe, many are already thinking what will happen to them at that very moment, what if the species that throw heat rays suddenly came into their place and eat them. The announcers seems really struggling on the so-called Martians, that there communication lines are losing, that people around lies dead, that there came a point that polices and army are already there and that one of there reporters is already charred. At this time, you only depend on what the announcers says on what is happening, you are depending on them. Because, you cannot see what is really happening, so what you do is just listen and wait for what will happen next.
If I was the one listening at that very moment, there are many emotions and thinking that will come up my mind. First is the fear, of course, what if the Martians are nearing the location where I was. Second, I will be depending on the radio which was the only means of communication that will tell me what will happen next, what to do, do I have to stay or live the place because the Martians are near. Third, I will really think, (if I still have the time to do so) if what the radio is saying is true, because I can’t see what is really happening. Do I have to see for myself before believing or just depend on the radio? To think why the Martians are careful not to destroy the trees but are too eager to destroy the communication lines and end man’s lives. Imagining the things and events that the announcers are just describing on the radio. Is it really alive? Is it really destructive and unstoppable, that we need to contact the army and polices. Is it really fast? Does it have the plan on destroying the places one-by-one, like from New Jersey to New York? Those are the thinking that will come up of my mind.
But after I have listened to that, it is really good to know that, that is not true. And just appreciate the drama, because it brings different points of view in life, like when the Secretary of Interior delivers his speech to the public regarding what was happening, to keep united. When Prof. Pierson sees a red squirrel, how it makes him happy to see someone alive. When he encounters the stranger, how they share their views on life, to start something new. When the Prof decided to live the stranger and start his own life, the life he wanted.
“Strange it now seems to sit in my peaceful study at Princeton writing down this last chapter of the record begun at a deserted farm in Grovers Mill. Strange to watch children... playing in the streets. Strange to see young people strolling on the green, where the new spring grass heals the last black scars of a bruised earth. Strange to watch the sightseers enter the museum where the dissembled parts of a Martian machine are kept on public view. Strange when I recall the time when I first saw it, bright and clean-cut, hard, and silent, under the dawn of that last great day... ”