The Green Dragon
The departure permit was laid in his pocket. A simple piece of paper. Victor remembered how only six months ago, it seemed unobtainable to him.
There was no joy there, neither any other kinds of feelings. He wandered till evening, avoiding the loud streets where masses of people tramped the mud of march. His feet took him to the metro station.
Back as a boy, Victor loved these lit palaces, with their tall columns, colorful mosaics and high speed trains. Here, it was as if everything was out of a fairy tale: the wonder ladder carried you onto another world, the heart missed a beat as the moving stairs were swallowed into a black trail, sliding under your feet and into the bottom of the earth, where the mysterious sound of the machines was heard. You have to make it! You have to be able to jump over the jagged metal stripe. How light that jump is! As if you are detached from the floor and float in mid air. And immediately after the landing, as if from a dark cave, the two glistering eyes of the green dragon fly towards you. And when the terrible noise faded, it suddenly became cute small houses with illuminated windows. The magic doors open and you have to be able to squeeze in before they are closed again. Then, you sit back on the comfortable leather seats, watch your surroundings and wiggle your feet at your pleasure. And if the tranquil ride puts you to sleep, you can have amazing dreams.
Victor automatically placed a 5 Kopeks coin into the machine, descended in the moving stairs and sat on the marble bench. A tidal wave of human masses had risen onto the quite beach of the track’s end and retreated once the train left the station.
Never before did he know what a guilty conscience is. When you read about it in books, it always seems as if it can never happen to you, you will never act in the same sordid manner as the novel’s antagonist, with his tormented soul. You think there isn’t a one ended path and you can always handle the present circumstances.
If only it were possible to turn back time! First, to that day when he was summoned for questioning on his Hebrew studies. He did not want to tell them anything. There were three of them, the questions kept flowing towards him from every direction. Then two of them left, and he was left with a young man in civilian clothing who had clever eyes and good manners.
- “Do you smoke? These are Americans”, he handed him a “Camel” packet. “I'm very sorry, but we have to open a record for you”, he said with artificial empathy.
- “I did not commit any crime”, Victor replied.
- “We have reason to believe you pose a connecting link in transferring literature of anti-Soviet nature from the west”.
- “I don’t understand what literature you are talking about”.
- “All kinds of religious books and Hebrew learning booklets, where under the guise of innocent stories, a Zionist propaganda is distributed”.
- “It isn’t true”, an outraged Victor exclaimed, “I am not interested in religious books, and no one sends us Hebrew learning booklets, we study from photographed copies”.
Why did he say that? Only later did he realize they needed to get him by his word, in order to blackmail him later on.
They held him for five hours and at the same time, searched his friends’ houses, confiscating all study materials, cameras and photo development equipment. Victor had learned this two days later, when he came to class. He wanted to tell of his “visit” to the KGB, but when he heard of what had happened, he panicked. “No one will believe me now, after all, I am the one to blame”, Victor thought with despair. It did not occur to him, that they could have done what they did even without the information he provided. It was a simple trap and he had fallen right into it.
After a while they summoned him again. Victor fell and thought with terror of the abyss cracking before him. But by then, it was impossible to stop. Gradually, the fear and pain turned their pace to a complete indifference. He tried not to meet anybody, skipped Hebrew classes and didn’t answer his phone. It was then they realized he had been fully extorted.
The last piece of information they demanded of him was the location and date of the protest that was scheduled to take pace soon.
- “Your departure permit is already signed. I have it right here”. Said Victor’s new “acquaintance” and demonstrably opened one of the drawers of his desk.
- “But I know nothing of the demonstration”, Victor tried to protest.
- “Then, your friends will find out about everything that had happened”.
And he agreed. They promised not to hurt anybody. Did he not know what their promises are worth?
Four of his friends were taken from their homes, three were captured in the street, including Victor, but two were able to reach the designated spot. They didn’t have time to spread the signs. They were beaten, unable to stand on their feet. The infuriated policemen and civilians dragged them to a vehicle prepared in advance.
The following day, Victor received his departure permit. The pink piece of paper in his pocket crushed his heart. Victor took it out and tear it to pieces. He threw the paper into the trash bin and marched towards the incoming train. And again, as was in his childhood, the glistering eyes of the green dragon flew towards him.
1974