Хаяла Мурад

Отрывок из перевода произведения “Salvation”

The “guest” moved his antennae from time to time and was silent. Leaning on one of the large stones, the lame man raised his mud-stained hands to his face covered with a mixture of sweat and coal, and again began to make strange sounds.

— Look, I’m invisible… You think you can see me, but in fact I’m completely invisible. I’m gone. If I close my eyes it will be dark, if I open them it will be dark again. Everything is covered in darkness… If I don’t see anyone, nobody sees me…

He removed his hand from his face and took a deep breath…

— I’m like a modern Quasimodo. I did not hesitate long before making this decision. Invisibility is written on my forehead. I was twenty when I decided to earn money by working in the mines. Not to mention the hard work, imagine a young man sweating in the coals. Do you know why I chose the coal mine? Because coal is like me… Black as darkness. But people need coal, unlike me, and I… Abandoned, forgotten, invisible. Sometimes it seems to me that I am no different from these stones falling on us … It turns out that no one remembers my existence? Nobody is looking for me? Aren’t they looking for a worker in a collapsed coal mine with the idea that he can survive? I pressed the SOS button……

The «guest» remained silent. Although his red eyes sparkled and his nose twitched from time to time, he enjoyed listening to the strange sounds the man made and watching his gestures.

The man sat down heavily on the crumbled coals on the ground and continued:

— I still do not know how many months have passed since that terrible incident. At first, I recorded the beginning of a new day every twenty-four hours. As the number of days filled with the same thing increased, a feeling of inevitability and invisibility woke up in me. But in the end he got angry and broke his watch. Decided to live somewhere outside of time. Time is not the judge here. But I never thought that I would be useless to so many people. That day I went down to the mine with fifty-five workers. It turns out that at least one out of fifty-five people did not survive!? Of course… Someone had to be saved. I’m sure of it.

The «guest» slowly approached him with its tiny claws, stood by the torn boot and began to listen to the dirty man, who was still waving his arms and making strange noises.

How many years have I been working in this mine. I knew every stone, every «corridor», every turn. So when the earthquake happened, I was able to protect myself between the two biggest rocks. The mountain where the mine is located is in a tectonic zone, so there were often small tremors. But I have never seen such a strong one. I’m still interested in the strength of the earthquake. As soon as the shaking stopped, I crawled between the stones and tried to determine where the light was coming from. Crawling through the ruined tunnel, I got to the light, and when I got to it, I realized that this light was not a ray of the sun, but a flashlight that had fallen out of the pockets of the workers. I hoped. Can you hear me? I hoped! It is hope that keeps people alive. I also lived and hoped to be saved. The way to escape was to find the capsule. Many years ago, when the first earthquake occurred, the management decided to place a capsule in the mine. In case of danger, we could get into the capsule, and have a chance to survive for three months. We all had access to this capsule. The password was taped to the right pocket of my work uniform. To get there, I had to go from one end of the shaft to the other. Not only did I hurt my hands picking up rocks, I almost lost my fingers.

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