are you even trying? - 17. the river

by nick nelson

part seventeen of 23

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> the crowd was screaming and laughing at a person who had jumped in the river. the person was trying to swim, presumably to the opposite shore, but was sinking beneath the waves without making much progress. the version was losing to the streetlamp, and no one had seen a soldier or a policeperson since the sun had started to go down. poor devil, an old woman said, he must have lost his ticket, to do such a desperate thing. tickets! screamed a man with a green face. what good are our tickets now! ha ha ha ha! he began laughing hysterically and most of the crowd joined in. it was getting late. johnny did not know what to do. he had been torn between going back to the deserted city where he must have dropped his ticket, and hoping for some other miracle… and now all around him people were saying that there was no hope even if you had a ticket, because the version was not coming back, and the streetlamp was sinking into the river. when he saw the savagery on the faces of the mob still taunting the poor devil who was trying to swim to the other shore… he decided to go back into the city… nobody followed him. the street was deserted and did not look familiar. where was the store with the big picture of the little girl and the dog in the window? this was not even the right street! how could he find the ticket he must have dropped, if he was not even on the right street? suddenly a jeep with four blue uniformed soldiers with rifles with bayonets slung on their shoulders appeared in front of him. where are you going? the driver of the jeep asked johnny. she had a hat with some sort of insignia on it - a snake?. i lost my ticket, johnny blurted out. it has to be around here somewhere. yeah right, the soldier beside the driver drawled. a likely story! i earned it, johnny cried. i earned it fair and square. i took the test and earned my ticket fair and square, honest i did? keep talking, a soldier behind the driver sneered. he looked familiar. nobody who could pass the test and earn a ticket, the driver replied evenly, would be so pathetically stupid as to let it fall out of his pocket. especially on judgment day, said the soldier behind her shoulder. johnny recognized him. it was buddy! he woke up. it was still dark. the truck was turning through an open gate. buddy was saying something to the guard who had opened the gate. johnny must have fallen asleep again. and he had woken up again. or had he? when would he ever learn? next