16

01:21

This was literally a dream come true. The old man had finally accepted. Of course, they had been hearing those rumors. Apparently, one man tried to introduce a form of civilization in K. and he was the first to do so in many, many years. Of course, there were some proponents and opponents of the whole situation. And there were those who didn't want to believe it. They couldn't make out that people from K. could read books, that children were educated, that they were doing something more than eating and waiting for their final days.

John felt as if he had won a lottery ticket. He was thrilled. He was running from one office to another in search of documents and forms that would allow this old man to visit N., he was packing his bags with all the important equipment, he was telling all this to his mother and friends and couldn't believe his luck.

Finally, there was some progress in his career. Finally, he had a chance to describe what no one had described before, what had been known only from stories, legends, and rumors and from the elderly, if they were willing to speak. And now he was to get the access to all the information. He would get access to people. He couldn't have been luckier.

The final supper with his mother was as blissful as never. He saw that she was proud and that she supported his every decision. She warned him about vaccinations and precautions, she told him that he should be careful about sex with the locals, food, and hygiene. She wanted him to promise that he would come back safe, educated and accomplished. He kissed her many times. And she hugged him back, divided between her pride and her motherly attachment. She was giving her son to the professional world and she knew she had to bear it somehow.

The trip was ecstatic. The views were amazing. What a difference it was to leave the white familiar buildings of his own motherland and cross the border to something unknown and unexplored. He saw trees and wide open spaces covered with crops and fields and forests. He watched single wooden buildings appearing now and again on the horizon, giving place for kilometers of pastures and fields. He saw people wandering around in big groups, dressed in terrible clothing, wearing the most ridiculous shoes he had ever seen. And then he got to the town and was struck by the terrible state of buildings, the number of people and the overwhelming scent that made him almost vomit. It was a mixture of sweat, human waste, dirt and cooking food and it was the most intense smell he had ever smelled in his life. He covered his nose and mouth with his shirt and desperately tried to get out. Streets were crowded so much that he began getting panic attacks, wondering if he would manage to reach the given address. He was caring his bag, seeing people looking at him with hostility, whispering something to each other, standing and pointing fingers at him. He managed to find the route, corresponding to the one drawn for him in the letter, and, with a sense of relief, he left the city. He was exhausted after his journey and was happy to see the house that was the exact copy of the drawing he got with the map.

The man was old but pleasant. He smiled at him, when opening the door, and showed him to the room on the first floor. The room was the size of his utility room back in N. The bed was old, loud and uncomfortable. There were a small table and a wooden wardrobe that barely contained enough space for his belongings. The man showed him the house. The house looked just the same: old furniture, small, cramped rooms, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, old wooden tables and chairs of the same quality. He got a large bowl with cold water and could wash. That day he barely slept, fearing both what was lurking for him outside and what was creeping inside along with the old man.

The next day he woke up early in the morning, took out his notebook and started a journal.