Page 51 - 2018 Kaleidoscope 4th Edition

Students’ Works
hat is your name?”
“A-10642.”
W“No, I mean, like your name.”
“Err…Gyorgy Levi.”
I take people on journeys. That is my job.
I do that every day, every hour, every minute, and
every second – all without fail. Some people come
to me rather willingly, oth-ers not so. Some just,
for whatever reason, keep pleading with me to let
them go their own way, but I always turn a blind
eye to their pleas. Usually I would just give them
some time before they get tired and stop themselves.
But Gyorgy, this man, he was different. He just kept
going on pleading and pleading, never showing sign
of stopping or pausing.
I got tired of his constant pleas, and just asked
him to say what he had to say. What ensued was a
rather long and unexpected story. Gyorgy started
his story from one and a half years ago in Budapest,
Hungary. He said he was trained as a doctor, but
was not able to find work then in Budapest. Then,
he boarded a train headed for Poland, lured by the
prospect of “resettling for work” that was advertised
by the government.
As the train clickety-clacked its way to
Poland, Gyorgy’s mind weaved many versions of
his life to be. He was stuffed in a packed and humid
wooden carriage, but all he could think of was
how much his life would change once he gets off
the train. It took a few days before the train went
through a large, elaborate gate and came to a halt.
As passengers got off the train, they were greeted
by signs saying “work sets you free”, words Gyorgy
thought made quite some sense. After a quick check
up, Gyorgy was whisked away to a building. He
rushed his way there, not wanting to be seen by
others as a slug.
Once inside, he was given a hot shower,
and had his body hair shaved. The authorities
here must be quite afraid of Hungarians spreading
diseases here, Gyorgy thought. He was given back
his clothes. On the back, it had a large white cross
painted on. The characters “A-10642” was sewn on
top. The yellow was a welcome addition to the dull
environment there, Gyorgy thought. Later, he would
find “A-10642” permanently stuck on his left arm.
When Gyorgy was told of his new job there,
he was one angry man. He raised his voice, but was
forced to stop as he saw the ground in front of his
feet turning red. He barely ever
spoke again, and for the rest of his
life he was quite basically a John
Doe.
Oh, his job? It was of a
“bearer of secrets”. True to its
name, Gyorgy bore many dark
secrets. Every day, it was the same
exact routine. A new trainload of
people would arrive, Gyorgy and
the other “bearers of secrets”
would whisk them into a building.
In the same monotonous voice, a
“bearer of secrets” would report
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