The Underground Man - Part 57

"I am old enough to say whatever I want to say...young Lady. Thanks for your concern. When I was young like you and even a bit older, what other had to say mattered to me and I took their words seriously...but in my olden days, trust me, I have the freedom finally to say and believe whatever I want to. There is no standard opinion, no society rule that I follow unless they make sense to me. And when people talk nonsense, trust me, I am the first to speak my mind no matter how much they think I am old, mad or too funny. Time for me to live here on earth is too short for which reason I have no time to waste speaking nice and friendly words pleasant to many ears. No, way! I speak whatever I have to say and do not care what other people call me. In the underworld, once done and gone, we all meet again having great parties and discussions seeing from below the green lush grass what nonsense people up there are doing. Oh, you bet, I will have a jolly good time down there and actually prepare myself for the final freedom getting rid of this body aching here and there to be only me and myself. To live is all about the body and the mind, to be is all about being. And being is all around us whether visible or not. To live is after all only for a short time, but to be is forever!"

Anna looked around seeing old and young walking their dogs or jogging questioning: "I see so many people here smoking, in Ghana I have never come across such behavior!"

The old Lady agreed and added: "Something I do not understand is that so many people these days have tattoos all over their bodies, even on necks and in faces...it does not look good at all. And piercing in noses and ears...God have mercy on your people. I simply do not understand why people want to do that to their bodies. No way can any such tattoos ever look nice and interesting...no way. It seems these days that people with plain skin are outdated. But in the end, skin changes with age and tattoos look even funnier than they do at younger age. I stay away from such people believing something is wrong in their spirit, their character is very strange!"

Anna advice the old Lady: "You will hear them insulting you as outdated when you mention it into their colorful faces!"

"As I told you already, young lady, I do never care what people say...I only live my life...period!" was the old Lady about to return back home for her afternoon sleep. "What is wrong with you...are you not feeling fine?" was the old Lady seeing Anna collapsing from one second to the next while getting up to walk away. She was lifting Anna´s head up to protect it from the gavel of the walk way. She shouted for help, other pedestrians rushed to the scene. They tried to check on her vital parameters to see her breathing, to feel her pulls, her heartbeat. Fear captured the faces of the onlookers. Ladies were about to cry in tears. The ambulance was called, the emergency doctor was concerned as Anna was about to pass on, no sign of life in her body. They pushed her into the ambulance giving her the much needed treatment. Before the door of the ambulance got closed to rush Anna to the nearest ICU facility appeared Irena at the car, looked into it seeing Anna lifeless on the stretcher having a smile on her face. Irena´s eyes reflected happiness and satisfaction as if years of hard work, of pressing on and on for something special, had fallen off her shoulders.

When the doors of the ambulance got closed and the car started to move faster and faster to rescue Anna from certain death, Irena said loud to herself: "It is done...my problem is gone!"

....to be continued

The Underground Man

Part

"I am so, so happy to see you like this!"

"Yes, I am also happy that God has saved me!"

"When I visited you in hospital it was not certain whether you will make it!"

"My soul was praying to God while lying in the ICU bed to save me. It is not yet my time to go, I was telling him", said Anna while Joe was holding her hands. "For me to be alive is only by the grace of God! The devil is always attacking me, but he knows I am still needed, my mandate is not yet completed!"

They were sitting on their usual wooden bench in Stadtpark at the great playground facing the public swimming pool on one side and Planetarium on the other. Joe had arrived in Hamburg two weeks before ready to departure the following day back to Accra. They had not seen each other for over almost ten years. He had saved money from his illegal work in the restaurant above which he had found a place to stay, had returned back to Ghana, managed to pay off his debts to the human trafficker. With the help of his wider family had he been able to find farm land, started from humble beginnings to finally employ people working for him. He looked fresh and full of energy. A German businessman had invited him to discuss further cooperation and sent him the ticket to come.

"No, they real cause of my problem was never established. All doctors run all sorts of medical checks on me but they could not find anything, no cause established", reported Anna back to Joe that quite obvious was sitting next to her without always on the alert to watch out for any police officer that could have taken him away.

"God truly is a miracle worker, I am telling you", smiled Joe all over his face. "He can turn your life around in a second with only his will. When you give your life to him, you are always covered. I mean...life with God is not an easy one, not like a living paradise...in fact it is hard work...but when you stay and press on you will see over time what God has for you...and that is always good."

Anna smiled seeing twins playing with their dog while their mother was watching over them enjoying her ice-cream: „That is so, so true. I know someone must have attacked me in his closet that does not want me to finish my assignment...but God has said no and saved me from the evil hand of the devil!"

"Amen...sister...Amen, God bless you so, so much", was Joe hugging Anna while both got up to walk around the park.

Landhaus Walter was closed for the day, therefore they headed further to the school for handicapped people at the outskirts of the park located in a massive old school once build with dark red bricks close to underground station Borgweg. Both new that during the night the bushes behind them were a place for homosexual men to meet their one-night-stand partners later the morning visible by used condoms all over the place.

"This world is crazy...crazy...crazy!" said Anna laughing her head off. "People have no sense, they are confused each and every day!"

Joe could not resist and laughed along his friend directing her towards City North to see the changes made of the past few years he had not seen the area:" What do you mean by that?"

"Look at this world...look around!" was Anna stretching her hands side to side embracing whatever stood in front of her. A man jogging and pushing his baby in a special stroller was nearly effected by her arms diving below them. "The whole world is about climate change, wherever you go and stay, this topic is never far from you. Yes, it is a problem for us to address, yes, something must be done about it, but no, it is not the most important issue we humans have...and no one can see." She looked Joe deep into the eyes while they moved on back into the park. "That is crazy. We waste our time and focus on a second grade problem that certainly harm us people forgetting to see the wider picture. We seems to pick the kind of problems from big, big basket that we think we can handle, that are somehow convenient to us. But the real issue, the bigger problem, we do not see!"

Joe went over to the ice-cream man that had stopped at the roadside with people gathering before to go for their most loved one flavor. He came back to Anna with vanilla and chocolate ice-cream in a giant waffle to carry along. "What exactly do you refer to?"

Anne licked the ice-cream that was freshly made in the morning with cream and milk, only natural ingredients, not much sugar: „Climate change is an economic problem that needs political answers to trigger economic changes to protect the environment. Overpopulation is a political issue that has an outfall in economic, social and political aspects of running world affairs out of which climate change problems increase, for this reason is far more complex, destroying mankind and has no lobby voiced for much needed re-thinking."

"That is true...I agree!" said Joe while two young police officers looked at him wanting to find fear in his eyes to approach him and check him out. There was no more fears in his eyes, proud of himself and what he had achieved, walked Joe alongside his friend so dear to his heart. The police officers turned round to check a last time on him, as he had shown no reaction they decided to patrol other areas of the park. "To make laws to change the source of power production from oil and coal is done purely by calculation how much the change would cost. For plastics it is the same, companies and consumers find this form of shopping more convenient, but it is only a matter of time to find alternatives that can do the same trick and be as much as convenient for all as plastics. Electric cars are the same issue...only economic issues to address."

"So, so true...and when it comes to the world number one problem, overpopulation...oh God have mercy on your people", raised Anna her hands to the skies being watched by others of what she was doing shouting out loud with hands raised. "Technical issues to change is easy to do...but to change habits and emotions...far more complicated, far more opposition involved, far longer time needed to implement the smallest change."

"The overpopulation is mainly triggered from Africa...and our African leaders are not helping the situation at all, rather find satisfaction in seeing their countries grow by the numbers. They simply do not think far...only for their short term in office...the rest they leave for the next president to clean up the mess caused", got Joe angry.

"People always talk about neo-colonialism and its impact on African societies painting the picture of restoration", commented Anna.