|
|
A Young Man's Story
an article by Dimitrios Peichamperis and Olena Sharvan
PART I
Water does not well in all parts of this world limpid and clean and food
does not fall from the sky. In some countries of this world numerous
people are forced to take drastic measures in their lives. They exile
themselves and their families in search for a better life, a better
future.
click on photo to enlarge
This
statement is true of Mehsud, who 15 years old, was travelling for days.
The last one had proven particularly difficult and tiring. He was
desperate and alone. He and his friends, a group of 30 people from
Pakistan, had attempted last night to cross the river Evros, the natural
border between Turkey and Greece, only with a plastic boat!
But things went drastically wrong as dangerous whirlpools capsized the
boat during the crossing. Fortunately for him he managed to keep to the
surface and clung onto a tree trunk. The currents pulled him out and,
with the little strength he had remaining, he managed to walk to the
nearby village.
It was getting dark and Mehsud was really very tired. So he
chose to search for a place where he could take a rest for a few of
hours without the awareness of the villagers. It was so easy for him to
detect an abandoned building. It was the village school, which must have
been abandoned years ago. One of the windows was broken so with a jump
he found himself inside the building. He sat in the corner of the room
and he was relieved not because he managed to hide, but rather because
he managed to escape from a giant cloud of mosquitoes that had chased
him for a few minutes.
Time when Mahmud left on Morpheus hands
was not long; god of dreams was right in his time. He was wandering for
several minutes in the illusions of his dreams, when suddenly he heard
some voices. Yes it was voices! He dazed. Who could find him he had
wondered. Suddenly in front of him appeared five little ones. They
looked without saying a word for a long time, as if they had swallowed
all their tongues. These were the children of the village. They were on
summer holidays at present and that was a really good chance for them to
visit their grandparents for a few days.
(This article is continued in the discussionboard - click here.)
|
|
DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
There is no question yet associated to this article.
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
SOLIDARITY
LATEST READER COMMENT:
PART II
In
that village everyone could find their freedom while they were giving a
breath of life with their endless game, in this almost deserted village
and they were providing with hope the last brave and quixotic remaining
elders
Surprisingly for some of the children, meeting with Mehsud was not
something uncommon, In the past they had seen hundreds of immigrants
passing through from there, All with the same destination, the same
hope, Mahmud was greatly surprised when one of them took the initiative
to talk to him
With his poor English which he had learned from the visits of the
American volunteers in his village, he managed to grasp the meaning and
to reveal children’s intentions, They wanted to help him! They knew to
speak some English as they had started private lessons while in their
first years of primary school, In public schools since the time of
English lesson they were playing blind man's buff in the school yard, So
they brought to Mehsud some food, water and dry clothes, He was their
new friend! And he told them his story, for the better life he had
dreamt to live in the “old continent” and for the recent misfortune of
his companions, whose fate was ignored
But as the time passed so
quickly the kids left the traveller alone and he had not hesitated to
thank them for their help and for their good intentions
In the next morning children had woken up with a smile on their face and full of zest for play. They had arranged to go fishing at the Maritsa river (Evros river in Bulgarian and Turkish), where several “petres” (method of fishing where a hook and a stone tied to the edge a string) were thrown of them. They had used as bait snails and some leeches which among their other uses in health, is one of the best bait for the sheatfish (known as catfish too). As the first hooks had not given the desired results small fishermen were getting more and more anxious. \"Next one will surely have some fish,\" they said. \"Let me pull out the next stone, you are so unlucky\" replied someone of them. And a huge smile was brought on their childish faces when a Rutilus Aula (freshwater fish) emerged on the surface. Several other fish followed and their morale was sky high!
It seemed like they had completely forgotten their distant visitor. Especially while the most promising hooks baited with leeches was reached. Their eyes had gathered on the string that came so painfully and patiently from the muddy waters of the river, as if they were waiting to sprung out Evros on himself , the face of Greek mythology, the son of the king of Thrace, who as the story says was being a very handsome young man, and he had led his stepmother to gain love and interest for him, so to escape from an ignominious death from the hands of his own father he felt into the river diamond, which has since received his name.
PART III
\"Fortunately there was a big carp on these fish hooks\" someone whispered while he was smiling, but he had not managed to finish his sentence when he saw the others icy and cadaverous, as if a sack of flour had fallen upon them! He turned his head straight to the same direction and he too froze. The view was really creepy. A man was floating with his face down in the river. \"A dead man\" one of the children said while his voice was stammering. That view was really shocking and a feeling of fear and awe flood in as they the lifeless body. The same place which before few minutes appeared as an earthly paradise, filled with dozens of colours of the sunrise reflecting on the river had turned into a nightmare. They gave up everything and ran to the village to inform the elders. Countless thoughts had tortured those moments in their mind. The body of the unfortunate man was collected the same day by the authorities and many others lifeless bodies of unfortunate men, women and small children immigrants too.
When the children calmed down and thought about Mehsud they looked at each other really sad about the fate of his comrades. “What about him” they thought. And they ran to the same place where they had left him at the previous evening. But there was no one. Mehsud had disappeared in search of his own dream, in search of his own hope for a better life.
|
|
by program area
