The question, ultimately, is this: do chains represent gentle, flexible tethers or unyielding hardened steel traps? Even more important questions: who set them? And for what purpose? The answers are not as important as the people who provide them. Some answers leave scars—disfigured trails of cruelty. The words can be identical, but their meaning often depends on the facial expression of the person providing the response. Grins and grimaces convey distorted messages…ideas as different as thunder and grapefruit juice. It does not have to make sense; it requires us only to think in colors with radically different densities.
