Gold fever
It was morning once again. I moaned for I felt a stabbing pain in my right side - I had once more slept over sunrise. Holding my side I groped up. "To work you worthless scamp! There will be no food for you today", bellowed the foreman and kicked me face down in the mud. "Now to work!" I scrambled to my feet as quickly as I could and blundered away.
The fact that I wasn't going to get anything to eat even today weighed heavily on my mind as I walked to the river bank with a pan hanging loosely in my left hand. Everyone else had already started to work. Farther I saw a place that was somewhat more sparse so I stroke there.
At noon I heard some shouting from the barracks. However they were silenced very quickly - someone had once again tasted the foremans unrelenting whip. A tear rolled out of my eye and dropped to the ground. I continued my work.
A little later I saw some boy being enforced my way. I noticed he was a new face. He had a white shirt on him and he wasn't that skinny - in contrast to our dirty grey shirts and gaunted figures. He was shoved in the river bank and a pan was thrown after.
At first he didn't understand what to do but I showed him and he learned quickly. We started talking right after the foreman had left. -I don't understand, he said enbaffled. -Hungry as I was I asked if it were possible to get one ration of rice. Surprisingly they were more than happy to offer me one. I ate my ration and even left some coin but as I was leaving I felt an enormous palm seize my shoulder. "No you're not", it said, "not before you've paid your debt." "But I paid already", I answered but the huge man just laughed. -That's what usually happens, I replied. -Almost everyone has come here in a similar fashion - they've ended up indepted to the foreman. -If you don't ask for the price beforehand, you'll have to cough up just so big a charge that you'll have to stay here working for your dept. Even if you some day did manage to pay the dept you'll never get out. -That's illegal, he shouted angry. But there's nothing you can do about it, I replied grave. -And don't raise your voice too much. We're not allowed to talk to each other. At that precise moment one of the foreman's aids was coming towards us and we had to end our chat and concentrate in our work. As he walked out of hearing range we continued our chat. -What was it like? I asked. -What do you mean? -I mean what was it like outside?
He told me such incredible things about the outer world that it was hard to believe my ears. Stories about food and fresh water, of a place where everyone went everyday to relax after an eight hour work day, of showers and cars ... I began to crave those wonderful things and I became sad knowing I would never see those things.
On the next day at breakfast I saw him bury a crust of bread in his pocket. He nodded his head as a sign that I should do the same. Terrified I cached a bread under my shirt remembering what had happened to the previous person who had been caught stealing bread.
Later that day when we could talk to each other again he told me that he was going to try to make a run for it and asked me to come with him. I had never seen anyone make it, and I had been here all my life. I hesitated, but the stories of the outer world were too tempting. "Alright. I'll come" I said determined and he smiled.
Late that night when everyone else had settled down we got up very quietly and listened in case of the guards. We took with us some useful things that we happened to come by like some matches and headed out. We crept across the shadowy yard all along being as invisible as possible. Suddenly we heard steps from behind a house and someone lit a flashlight. We could barely avoid the beam of light from the guard's flashlight by jumping to the stream bank. We lied there silently holding our breath. The guard was closing in. Soon the beam would hit us. My heart pounded wild and I was afraid that the guard would hear it. Panic struck me. I dashed away from the guard and started running along the stream. The guard was yelling but I ignored it. I heard a shot. It echoed in my head as I fell in to the water. My feet would no longer bear me. It got dark in my eyes. I felt as my friend clung to my hand and squeezed it. "Run!" I said in my mind but it was too late already - there was another bang. His grip tightened for a second and then it became loose and he fell on me ...
Miro Lahdenmäki, secondary highschool.