The Appointment
Page 21
by Herta Müller
Where were you.
As so often before, he’ll say:
In my shirt and right with you.
The red Java is glistening with a fresh coat of paint. Quite by accident, just out of boredom, the old man glances at the bush and bends down to Paul’s ear. Now Paul stands up and sees me. Why is he buttoning up his shirt.
The trick is not to go mad.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Romania in 1953, Herta Müller lost her job as a teacher and suffered repeated threats after refusing to cooperate with Ceauçescu’s Securitate. She succeeded in emigrating in 1987 and now lives in Berlin. The recipient of the European Literature Prize, she also won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for her previous novel, The Land of Green Plums.