The Beynons woke to find a wall around their house. Hearing workmen behind the wall, Fred bellowed: \u2018What\u2019s occurring?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018National plan,\u2019 came a muffled voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Keeping others out or us in?\u2019 Dora shouted. Her mind was quicker than her husband\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I\u2019m just doing what I\u2019m told.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018How do I get to work?\u2019 Fred yelled. \u2018How does Alice get to school?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
A powerful drill drowned out the man\u2019s voice. Dora thought she heard him say, \u2018All over the country.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Could think of it as a bit of a holiday, Fred.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018A few days off from the office\u2019ll be alright, I suppose. Hope it\u2019s not too long though. I\u2019m behind with customer accounts.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alice appeared in school uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It won\u2019t last long,\u2019 her mother said. \u2018Probably one of the president\u2019s ideas.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Perhaps they\u2019ll run out of bricks, Mummy?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred put on the news channel. There were clips of workpeople toiling hard, erecting walls around houses. A sign on the screen said: National Renewal, making our nation safe<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Mummy, what happens to the people behind the wall?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I\u2019m in the dark about that, dear.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018So are they,\u2019 Fred muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Have they been naughty, Daddy?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fred and Dora looked at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018You\u2019ve been respectful to the customers, haven\u2019t you, Fred?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018You\u2019ve not upset anyone on the ward at hospital, have you, Dora?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next day \u2013 the lack of light, dizzying claustrophobia \u2013 Fred said: \u2018I\u2019m going to ring and complain.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018No!\u2019 Dora pleaded. \u2018Last time you complained\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018He was just a jumped-up squirt.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Yes but he reported us.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Nothing happened though.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018\u2026 Until now.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Are you suggesting this wall is\u2026?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Punishment?\u2019 She put on the news channel. \u2018Fred! It\u2019s selected<\/em> houses. We must be on the list.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018What list?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018At work the doctors talk about a list: of troublemakers. The consultants say: \u201cThey <\/em>have eyes.\u201d \u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next day, the fresh food beginning to run out, they ate only a small breakfast. Fred tried again to open the front and back doors, but the wall enclosing the whole house was less than an inch from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I\u2019m suffocating,\u2019 he said. \u2018You were right. I looked through the front window and these eyes built into wall stared back. I can\u2019t take anymore!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dora tried to caress his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Get off me! You put us on that list! Been upsetting the doctors again, haven\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I\u2019ve never\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day after she found Fred peeking out the front door, muttering, \u2018A tomb, buried alive. You want me die here, don\u2019t you!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Who are you talking to?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018There\u2019s no light in here anymore. My head\u2019s spinning. I\u2019m cracking up.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Mummy, I\u2019m hungry,\u2019 Alice said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fred flung a plate to the floor: \u2018Food? I can\u2019t see. <\/em>We must\u2019ve done something wrong. No electricity, no internet. I can\u2019t cope!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Don\u2019t cry, Daddy.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Take that wall away from me!\u2019 he shouted. He was pointing at his daughter and wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Do you mean us, Fred\u2026?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fred looked at his face in the hall mirror and saw bricks. The wall was growing inside him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Beynons woke to find a wall around their house. Hearing workmen behind the wall, Fred bellowed: \u2018What\u2019s occurring?\u2019 \u2018National plan,\u2019 came a muffled voice. \u2018Keeping others out or us in?\u2019 Dora shouted. Her mind was quicker than her husband\u2019s. \u2018I\u2019m just doing what I\u2019m told.\u2019 \u2018How do I get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1490,1572],"tags":[811,984,1581,1412,7,1573,1582,128,9,118,672,1189,702,11,159],"class_list":["post-2365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1490","category-the-list","tag-around","tag-behind","tag-dora","tag-fred","tag-her","tag-list","tag-national","tag-out","tag-said","tag-they","tag-us","tag-voice","tag-wall","tag-was","tag-what"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-C9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2366,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions\/2366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}