Tales of Freedom Read Online Free PDF Page B

Man.
    ‘Utter humiliation!’ screeched Old Woman.
    ‘Pinprop, you shall suffer for this a thousand thousand times.’
    ‘You shall suffer in all the pits with all the world’s vermin as your companions.’
    ‘Then I shall never starve,’ said Pinprop.
    ‘You shall weep for eternity and no one will hear your weeping.’
    ‘Your thoughts will strangle you and you shall never find death,’ said Old Woman.
    ‘Nor ever arrive anywhere.’
    ‘Nor ever have a wash.’
    ‘Nor ever …’
    ‘Nor ever …’
    ‘Let’s sleep on it,’ Old Man said.
    ‘Let’s try to sleep.’
    ‘You shall be a slave for the rest of your life.’
    ‘Let us sleep.’
    ‘I’m tired or I would have heaped all the abuses in this world on him.’
    ‘My mouth is heavy.’
    ‘We still love you, Pinprop.’
    ‘We always will,’ said Old Woman.
    ‘That is why you shall forever be our slave.’
    ‘Even in sleep.’
    ‘Yes. Sleep,’ Old Man said.

Six
    THEY FELL SILENT . Then, in the distance, there was the sound of the siren again.
    ‘Horrors!’ cried Pinprop.
    Then, in the woods and in the air, there was the sudden sound of birdsong, and a baby crying.
    ‘Defilement!’ said Pinprop.
    Not long afterwards the young man and young woman stumbled into the clearing. They were chained together at the ankles.

Seven
    ‘LET’S REST HERE for a while,’ said the young man.
    ‘Yes, let’s do that.’
    Then they sat down on the ground, as far from one another as possible.
    ‘Let’s sleep,’ said the young man.
    ‘And forget.’
    ‘And remember.’
    ‘With no confusions.’
    ‘Or regrets.’
    ‘With no need to conform.’
    ‘Or be anything.’
    ‘With a lot of space to create,’ said the young woman.
    ‘Without pain.’
    ‘Except my heart.’
    ‘And my throat.’
    ‘Tiredness.’
    ‘In perfect peace.’
    ‘And a few arguments now and then.’
    ‘Without wonder or beauty.’
    ‘Without anything.’
    ‘Except our past.’
    ‘And each other.’
    ‘With a few routines.’
    ‘And we shall call it love.’
    ‘Then we shall invent a new religion.’
    ‘I’m lonely.’
    ‘Let’s sleep,’ said the young man.

Eight
    THE SIREN SOUNDED in the forest. Then, after the sound faded, the Man wandered into the clearing, dejected, dragging his feet.
    ‘Water. Just water,’ he said. ‘I think I stink like old cheese.’
    He fell silent.
    ‘I should have stayed at the asylum. It’s not my fault that I killed that sniffer.’
    He laughed.
    ‘It must be sad to be a sniffer. Sniff, sniff, sniff.’
    He paused.
    ‘I wish I had some water. Just a glass. I could wash with a few drops, drink a few more drops, and save the rest for later.’
    He looked around and, for the first time, saw the white building with the blue door.
    ‘Ah,’ he said.
    He read out the legend on the door.
    ‘Room to Let.’
    He was silent.
    ‘Liars. Cheats. Thieves. Deceivers,’ he cried out, suddenly. ‘This is not a house. This isn’t what I’ve been looking for. There’s no room in there. It’s a bloody prison, a bird cage, a trap. Sniff, sniff. I’m not going in there.’
    There was another silence.
    ‘I’m tired of running, running,’ he said, dejectedly. ‘Search, searching. Sniff, sniffing.’
    He paused again, as a new thought came to life in him.
    ‘I’d be much better off looking for them. Better to start from where I know. Escape to what I am. Grow on my own cross.’
    He looked at the white building again.
    ‘It’s a joke.’
    He made a long crying sound.
    ‘A bad joke.’
    He laughed. Then the silence was broken by the siren in the forest. The sounds came closer.
    ‘They are nearby,’ he said. ‘Oh, good. Start again from where I know. Find what I am. Redeem myself. The asylum is as good a place as any. Who knows, maybe this whole planet is an asylum, a penal realm. A place for hard cases.’
    The siren intensified.
    ‘I must find them,’ said the Man.
    The siren sounded now with greater clarity.
    ‘Lovely water,’ he