These attacks mark the end of the world only for those whose sense of peace and security is now forever altered, for those who will never feel safe in a concert hall again, for those whose loved ones will never return, and most of all, for those whose lives were tragically cut short.
For the victims of these attacks, the world has already ended. The safe, modern Paris they once inhabited is gone. Carefree nights strolling along the Seine, eating and drinking at the bistros and nightclubs will be replaced by anxious meals at home. Concerts that once provided entertainment and a sense of escape will now trigger only flashbacks. Happy dreams will be replaced by nightmares. Some will even move away from the city, returning to small town life with a haunted look in their eyes.
They now exist in a different world, a world where nothing is safe, a world already inhabited by every rape victim, every domestic abuse survivor, every combat veteran, every innocent child whose cries were stifled, every person traumatized and scarred by violence.
But while their world has ended,
…ours has not