Sept 12th’s prompt is “it wasn’t the fire that she was afraid of ”
I’m thinking of Terry Goodkind’s The Sword of Truth” (Legend of The Seeker) series and how the antagonist Darken Rahl (a sorcerer that killed with impunity) convinced his neighbors, Westland (that he wanted to annex ) that what they needed to fear was ordinary fire.
So the innocent victims started a campaign against banning fire – the fire they cooked with, heated their homes with, defended their homes with, depended on to make their lives more sustainable. And it kept them distracted from Rahl, as he eviscerated anyone and everyone in his pursuit of more power.
It’s a fairly effective strategy for authoritarian regimes and hopeful dictatorship – in fantasy books and in reality.
I identify myself as a Pacific Northwest poet. I have been writing poetry since 1976- and yes - I have been using the pen-name Ariel all this time! I can often be found writing in the Willamette Valley, in Pacific forests or along the Coastlines on Oregon.
nwpoetariel
Ariel, Pacific NW poet 
Let me know what you think ...