Tuesday 6 September 2011

Interpersonal Communication Conflicts

It is a beautiful day; the sun is at its zenith while a distant rainbow is clearly visible in the sky. The landscape is filled with trees and flowers. A beautiful church can be distinguished because of its high bell tower. Next to that church, there is a playground where children are running around, playing hide and seek. Their mothers are chatting between each other, discussing their daily lives while keeping a watchful eye over their children. It is a perfect day and everybody is enjoying it. 



Suddenly, the sounds of birds are silenced by a shrieking scream. Everybody is confused and surprised. Kids stop running and mothers instinctively rush towards their children. A man can be seen pointing at the top of the tower bell, he is shouting "She is on top! She is going to jump!". Each person turns his attention to the unknown young girl standing on the edge of the tower, waiting to fall. 

She is blankly staring at the sky and ignoring the world under her feet. Her makeup is damaged because of dry tears. Her stunning black dress is stained with mud and dirt. She has been on top of the church all morning and just decided to climb the bell tower, which attracted the attention of the crowd. Sadness is filling her soul, blinding her of the environment around her. Unlike everybody else, she could not see the shining sun and the bright blue sky; somehow, this image is replaced by darkness. She is standing still, as if she were a statue. The only sign of life she projected is a cry in a deep sad voice "Why?...".

Her thoughts are surrounding her tightly. It makes her disconnected from her surroundings to the point that the notion of space and time are lost. She is lonely and confused; convinced that the future will not bring any good. She is lost within her mind, questioning the root of her problems; is it because she is a failure or because she is misunderstood? The only thing she is sure of is that she must make a hard decision: should she jump to end her misery or give herself another chance in life?  

Suddenly, before reaching her decision, her foot slips from the edge of the bell tower. She looks around and gets back in touch with the world around her. The rainbow has disappeared; the melody of singing birds was replaced by the sound of sirens and chatting noises by loud screams. People are begging her, they are asking her, "Please, do not jump, we are here to help." But, it is too late.



What are the different interpersonal conflicts in this post? (Hint there are two)
Is there any way that the flow of events could have happened differently?

5 comments:

  1. Fascinating post. I'll leave more comments after others have. Cheers, BB

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  2. WoW This's FANTASTIC!

    I really like your choice of words e.g. sun is at its zenith.
    Also, the pictures you use help me visualizing the story even better.

    The story could have turned out differently if she hadn't slipped right?

    Regarding the conflicts, I'm uncertain whether I'm correct.
    Is it that she misunderstands that others don't understand her?

    Thumbs up!
    Tong

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  3. Thank you Brad, I will be waiting for your comment!

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  4. Tong,

    Thank for your comment :)

    By how the flow if events could have happened differently i meant, was there any other way they could have communicated with her, to help her out?

    I will answer the conflicts question when there are more comments.

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  5. Thank you, Rami, for this poetic description of a bleak unfolding scenario. I'm not sure about the interpersonal conflicts in this tragedy. But the intrapersonal one is clear: a young girl, her dress and beauty soiled by unexplained events, stands at the edge of disaster. Her turmoil may be due to some social situation, but at the point that we readers enter into your story, her struggle is internal. And then the winds of fate blow through....

    Masterful story-telling, Rami.... I look forward to reading more of your prose.

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