Assassins

People lurking in doorways, stalking their target on the streets, their weapon hidden in the folds of their clothes. You don't know who might be out to get you, but meanwhile, someone else has your photo in a manila envelope, trying to get you first. It might be at work, when you walk out of your door, as you buy your lunch, but there are rules. You are safe on public transport and in train stations.

Am I getting a bit paranoid?

Actually, I'm referring to I guess what would be called 'water pistol assassins' which is apparently becoming very popular in cities in the UK and USA - I presume also in different parts of the Western world as well. There's an article on the BBC website that explains it (or at least, explains it to those who can understand the attraction, regardless of whether it attracts them or not).

It's not a new concept to me. It used to be played around my university, although unless you knew the Assassins society existed you probably wouldn't have noticed. I didn't play, but I probably got the record for the 'innocent' that was killed the most times in my first undergraduate year. Practically every time I went to visit my friend, who lived in another part of my college and DID play, I set off some sort of trap meant for her, whether it was jam on the door (masquerading as poison), or a box sitting in front of her door (bomb). I was like a canary in a mine, squeaking (I can't sing) as I set off all the traps before their intended target. It did explain why I had seen a strange guy lurking around her part of college (it was a women's only college, which must have made life more difficult for the male assassins) - later on I got to see him a few more times; usually the back of him as he scuttled off when I opened her door and walked right into yet another trap. Once it was a talcum powder bomb, which I was less amused about. He was certainly tenacious, I give him that, and almost certainly frustrated by my unintentional suicidal tendencies.

Don't ask me why they do it. As to myself, I liked going to and from lectures without being attacked (at least I knew I would only be killed when I was in the proximity of my friend). I'm glad that their rules didn't mean you had to be killed by a water pistol though - otherwise I would have had to visit her with a towel, just in case.