The Frozen Desert by Moein Mansoori Fard (free e books to read online TXT) 📕

I’m so sorry I couldn’t play with you since I was so busy. I had to help them.

I curse myself for why I can’t read his mind. She looks at me as a dead. She stares at me. As a fly changes its location in the air, her look changes its place on my eyes continuously and then she enters the room with an agitated face. I curse myself again and go out with a distracted mind. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder which stops me. I return and see Vorarin who looks at me calm and cool.

We must go upstairs to receive our outfits. What do you want to do?

I realize his words after being confused, turn my face and just look at him. He says:

Any problem?

Nina’s thought empties my mind a little and gives me a chance to notice Vorarin.

Yea, I mean no, no problem. Let’s go and take the outfits.

He says nothing, just looks at me doubtfully, then he goes. I just follow him in the way to upstairs and we don’t talk at all. I reach Rakovan’s room through a regular but crowded traffic of the ants. I knock at the door before I enter but no one replies. Again I knock, and again no one replies. I open the door slowly and sneak a look into the room. Inside the room is full of the patient who lay on the ground to the door. Rakovan is arranging the medical equipment. I say:

I want my knapsack. Thanks.

You’re welcome.

I hardly reach Vorarin through the rolling surge of the people which is flowing on the stairs. The long queue continues to the front of the counter and between the beds and near the stairs. All the people are in toss like the bees in hive.

It’s so crowded. We’d better wait.

Anyone who tries to get ahead in queue, will face with people’s objection. We enter the queue and suddenly I see a hand which is shaking for us. I stand on my toes to see well. He is Yatilan who shakes his hand for us. Some people look at us because of Yatilan’s signal, and this makes it easy for us to go toward him. So we go ahead through the crowd like a snake. Some object us, but we go ahead without noticing them, who push us once in a while. Vorarin uses the space behind me and follows me with no distance. Once in a while, his leg touches the back of my feet and throws me off balance. Finally, we reach the counter. Yatilan says something to his friend and then comes toward us.

Let’s go in.

We go toward the small door behind the counter. Vorarin enters ahead of us and Yatilan enters last and closes the door with a sigh of exhaustion. All of the foodstuffs packs are moved here from the store and are arranged on a corner on top of each other. The doors of the upper packs are open and cans show themselves off. A few sheaves of leaflet are set near each other on the table. A part of room is occupied by a big tank of water and a good number of flasks. Yatilan says:

Please come with me.

Then he goes toward the sheaves of leaflet and says:

Please take twenty canned food off the packs, and also eight flasks of water.

He takes two sheets from a sheaf and come to help me. I put the cans in my knapsack and attach the flasks around the knapsack. Vorarin’s knapsack is similar to mine except for his knapsack has more facilities than mine.

A brief comment, as you see there are four shelters on the map. We put one of them aside because you used to live there, and cross out the first one, because I’m sure it is full. You can count on two other shelters.

Although I know everything about the shelters, I don’t cut his words and listen to him thoroughly. With this comment, I am sure that he knows nothing about our mission. It can be concluded that other people also know nothing about that.

Unfortunately we haven’t glassy clothes anymore.

When he finishes his words, we leave the room. He goes to his colleagues and the voice of the objectors against the slackness gradually quiet down. We bid him farewell and go downstairs. In the midway Vorarin says:

By the way, Karisan forgot to say that nobody knows about our mission except Rakovan. It’s better to keep that in secret.

I just keep quiet, Vorarin stops and thinks for a while. Then he says:

This is the best time to wear our glassy clothes. We must wear them before we leave. Come with me.

He doesn’t wait for my reply and goes toward the store downstairs. Before he enters the store, I ask:

What do you mean? Why here?

Because here is empty and no one has nothing to do here. No one should be informed of the glassy clothes.

Then he opens the door and enters. No one notices here even a little as he said. But I enter cautiously and leave the door half open so that in the case of someone enters, I see their shadows first. The direction of the light beams is so that shadows cast into the room.

I go downstairs to wear my clothes. You change your own here.

Then he get into the way going down through the manhole. Before that, he opens his knapsack and pulls out two sets of glassy clothes which shine like the diamond under the dim light.

Wear this mask over your face and put these lenses on your eyes.

Then he hangs one of the clothes over his hand and puts another one on the knapsack and disappears into the manhole. I go toward the clothes and take it. It is limpid as water, clear and colorless like the glass and completely set. It is as delicate as silk and as light as a feather. It is so light that after I wear it, I get used to it and don’t feel its weight anymore. It has no smell as well.

I go behind a commode which hides me from the sight of entrance. I remove all of my clothes even my underwear. Then I wear the glassy clothes from its stretch collar. I take the mask, which is a rather thick, and put it over my face. Soon after using the lens, tears wet my eyes.

After a short time since I wore the clothes, suddenly it changes to the color of my skin as if it disappeared. The only sign of its existence and being apart from my body is the mark attached on its collar at the back of the neck. Its pressure on the body disappears after a while. I’ve worn my clothes but there is no sign of Vorarin yet. I call him but I just hear an obscure reply. I call him again. After a short time he replies:

Wait a second. I’m ready. Just a little…damn…

I wait. Here, the atmosphere is pokey and drowsy. All of a sudden, two white gunnysacks attract my eyes. They are closed tightly. Some fine grains are showing off below them. The upper part of one of these gunnysacks is torn. They are filled with grit. But why they need the grit? I follow the track of the grit until I reach the manhole. I bend over to have a look into it, all of a sudden in midway, Vorarin with the agitated and hasty tone says:

Hey, wait a minute…I’m ok, I finish my job right now.

Again, I wait for a while and finally he comes up through the manhole slowly. Then he makes his clothes tidy and says:

I’m afraid it lasted a little bit long. I’m ready, we can go.

Just a minute!

He asks in wonder:

What happened?

Is any gunnysack like these down there?

I didn’t see any. Why?

No matter. Forget it.

He takes his knapsack and goes out of the room cautiously.

Karisan is standing near the exit door of the shelter. He looks around, and when his eyes meets me, his anxiety subsides in his eyes. I reach Vorarin and we stand in front of Karisan. Nina is also standing near Karisan. He says me with a seemingly rough and annoyed face:

Where were you? I was searching everywhere for you. I thought you’ve left.

Indeed, here was a little crowded so we changed our clothes in the store.

He pays no attention to me as if he doesn’t expect any reply. Then he says:

Fortunately there isn’t any news of nomads, so don’t worry.

He puts his hand on Nina’s head. Nina peeks in at me and when meets my eyes, smiles. Karisan pulls the letters out of his pocket and emphatically says:

I don’t emphasize it again, these are very important.

Then he holds the letters in front of me like the playing cards and while pointing on each one, gives some explanations about them.

When you reached the group, you should give this letter to Kidaton, this to Parkad, and this one to Nabidak. These are your letters of introduction. With these letters they would accept you.

Then he gives me the letters while he emphasize on the importance of the letters by shaking them and says:

By the way, these letters are also for Vorarin. However, I prepared a letter of introduction for you, Vorarin.

Vorarin comes ahead and takes the letter of Karisan. He looks at both sides of the letter and then put it into his pocket. Karisan pulls two small black things out of his pocket and shows them in his palm:

These are insignia of the group. All of your information are saved in them. Even if you lost the letters, you must not lose the insignia. There is a place at the back of the insignia in which you put your fingertips to save your fingerprints. Then…

He shows us a sliding back door on the insignia. A fingertip-size place appears. A touch screen which scans the fingerprint. He spins the small set as he speaks:

You must also register your eyeprint ID using this part of the set. This one is a display screen. When it is on, you can enter your data. You will enter the list of the group since when you press the enter key. Then it becomes your identification mean and when you put your finger into it, it confirms your identity. You should be very watchful lest someone obtains this because they can use it. Since you entered your data no one except you can use it, but it may be hacked and then…well, I have nothing to say anymore and I don’t ask you about the foodstuffs because I know Yatilan has given you all you need. Now I have much work to do. If you don’t need me, I should go.

I shake my head in sign of negative answer and then I hug him.

By the way, what do you think if I move Raya to the “Hope” shelter?

I don’t know whether she accepts or not, but she can come out of that gehenna.

I’ll do my best. I want she heals as soon as possible.

I smile:

Really thanks.

He says goodbye and goes to the first floor. I hug Nina too:

Look, do you resent me?

While looking at the ground, she gives me the negative answer by shaking her head and then she smiles.

I shake my hand and leave the shelter with a vague feelings.

Chapter 10

The exodus

We are now outside the shelter. I close my eyes and shelter them from the sunshine under my hand. I close and open my eyes several times but it seems that the earth also has its own light. My eyes aches much. I have to hold my hand in front my eyes completely. Then I open my fingers slowly. Like the sludge which settles in