Humility

by Magdalene Hornbeam

  She thought of the association "Debate", but she immediately banished all her thoughts in this direction.

  The healer, who had helped her to recover, could not do anything about insomnia, which made her very tiring and exhausted. He demanded that she stay in hospital. But Anna did not want to hear about hospital treatment. He had already escaped from a hospital. So, when they called with an offer to participate in the reality show "Sahara", no matter how strange this call was, she accepted it without complying with the advice of the healer.

  In fact, she had returned to Sofia because of her father. The eighty-year-old man was very ill, but he was waiting for her. He died a few minutes after she sat by his bed. She had to organize his funeral in his native village. Her father, in his last minutes, showed where he kept his money for his own funeral. He knew her. He knew that she had no money saved. She was feeling quilt. The people who had brought her up and gave her the chance to study, were not relying on her. The fact that her father did not say anything before he died, only showed where the money for his funeral was, reflected very badly on her. Guilt and failure hung like two heavy stones of her neck.

  A drowning man grabs for any straw that they see before their eyes! The only straw that stood in front of her was currently her starring in the reality "Sahara", so she answered affirmatively. The organizers gathered participants from all over the world, probably they weren’t very precise, and for her physical condition, she checked in the questionnaire box "good." These fifty thousand euros, promised to every participant as a starting amount, no matter if one would be the first to go, were a true salvation for her from this situation.

  The scholarship that has been granted shall be paid directly to the University of Paris, and she did not dare to come to France because she had to be responsible for her escape from the hospital.

  She prayed to her angels Bell and Black. Were they only in her imagination? Her thoughts again went into direction of the participants in this reality survival in Sahara. She felt as if they were all familiar to her, and she has known them for years and that somehow she has the responsibility for them- though she could not recall ever wanted to visit Niger and the Niger capital Niamey.

  At this point the door opened slowly and two people got inside quickly and quietly. As they approached the bed she saw that they were a small woman and a pretty big guy. She had a habit of looking through her lashes of her eyes without rising her eyelids. The room was not completely dark because the window was on the side of the lit street, and she didn’t pull the curtains.

  - Is this the last one? - Asked the man whispering in French.

  - Yes, it is. Forty-eight kilos, meter and sixty-seven cm, thirty-two years of age, female.

  - Nurse, please turn on the lights or I cannot find the vein.

  - Unfortunately, this room overlooks the street and the curtains are not pulled down. I will get a flashlight so that you can make it.

  - If she's so lean, I need good lighting, not to puncture her blood vessel. And how do I measure the dose without seeing the measurement units! – The big man raised his voice, hissing.

  - Hush! Do not wake her up! Get in the bathroom, it is light there, and prepare the dosage correctly. I will put venous injection, and you will light with the flashlight. I have precise instructions and have no intention to violate them. Probably we are being watched. I do not want to give reasons not to pay us.

  The doctor went into the bathroom and Ana frantically pondered upon the situation. It was obvious that she would be sedated to sleep for long hours, as they had so strictly to dose. The nurse was black and the doctor was a white man. There was no doubt that they were local people. It was not appropriate to "wake up" and shout. In hotel rooms one hardly pays attention on shouting, she only risked to be hurt by these two. She continue pretending to be asleep.

  - You direct the light, I will put the injection. I also want to get my money without any reproaches - he was out of the bathroom and showed that he did not trust the nurse.

  - Here, you see how easy I was! Come on, we've done our job. We come out of this door, and we will be with fat wallets. The important thing is that no one could see us.

  - When will you call the loaders?

  - As we get out of the hotel. They are probably waiting somewhere nearby.

  The big white man packed his belongings in a backpack and they quickly left the room. Anna realized that all participants will be sedated and moved to unknown place. He waited to sink into the black hole of her unconscious. But she was still conscious, though she could not move even a finger. She felt that after a while two men, dark and skillful got into the room, and one picked her up on his back and the other packed up her belongings. He even exclaimed something appreciatively, but it was in a local dialect and she did not grasp the meaning. Then they drifted her to the elevator and through the back entrance of the hotel they put her in an open pickup - jeep. Next to her, seated similarly, they placed men and fastened them with belts. There was no strength left in her to lift her eyelids and look. They drove away and the only thought which she had within her was that at night it was very cold here.

  Later she recognizes that they carried them in a small plane, where now more comfortably they put them in separate seats. She lost track of time and place. As if Bell and Black carried her on both sides of her head, but they said nothing. And it was not necessary! They gave hope. One cannot keep balance without trusting someone.

  Her guardian angels had gone when she came out of the black hole. The plane was about to land. Some military officers took care of them. She could not see anything, but somehow she was convinced that the men who transported them to a camp and stretched them on cots were military officers. They talked in a low voice, in English with each other. In short, imperative sentences. Finally they left them and she thought that there were no people, but two other people had entered because she could clearly hear their conversation. They spoke German.

  - Boss, when will the anesthesia stop working?

  In about an hour.

  - Okay, who of the black people shall I command to read them the rules?

  - Make your choice. I'll check the pulse them. May they all wake up.

  - If someone does not wake up, we'll throw him to the crocodiles.

  - Yes, but "The Iron one" will not be pleased. You know, we have detailed guidelines for competitions and at the beginning we have to be flawless. But a little more and we will do the orders the Corporation, we are on the finish line, we will endure everything!

  - Do not worry, they will wake up. Anyway, they would not know the location of the camp and could not understand - how could they, as I took all their mobile phones - the other laughed at the humorous remark. - If someone does not come to senses, we will call the shaman of the tribe, to help.

  - I urgently command you that no one else could witness.

  - After he helps us, he will no longer be seen, right? – Now the joker laughed alone at what he said

  - There is no need to create some extra work. We’ve been waiting for four years, we should not stumble on the last stone.

  Anna felt the fingers of the Boss of her neck.

  - This is questionable, she has very weak pulse and she is very weak. How the supervisor did chose them and why «The iron one» trusted him so much, I don’t understand!

  - Well, she will soon be out of the game and will become food for the crocodiles, right from the first game they must be taken by terror.

  - "The Iron one" doesn’t have the faintest idea about the health plans of the Corporation. But in the beginning, according to instructions, accidents are not desirable. Come on, let’s have a cup of coffee.

  - Haven’t you brought neither weed nor alcohol? I guess I'll have to drop by the hotel in Niamey.

  - No, I haven’t. The mission is very responsible, I do not want to shoot any of Blacks because of you.

  - Come on now, you compare me with the niggas!

  They left. Anna could not believe what
she had heard. Was she hallucinating from the anesthesia?

  ***

  They all started gradually to wake up. Hyulaya puke, started shaking out and crying. Baz staggered back to bed. Dylan had a high blood pressure. They gave him a pill. Laura began to giggle without any reason. Only she and the Asian were looking and feeling "good". It took some time until all felt better. Anna helped Hyulaya, who could currently understand only Spanish.

  There was only one person from curators who was with them. Black, tall, wearing a camouflage khaki military clothes with a mask face. He spoke English fairly well. He had good medical knowledge. After measuring the blood pressure of the oldest participants - the Englishman Dylan Frank, he immediately opened a drawer of gray cabinets beside the door of the tent and gave him a pill.

  The tent was very large, but there were only six cots and two high cupboard by the door, covered with canvas. "So there are just six people who will participate in the reality show" Sahara "!" - Thought Anna.

  - My name is Christian and Mutwa, and I will read the newsletter – the Negro stood in a firm stand in the middle of the tent. - It describes your daily tasks. Keep quiet, so I can to read the newsletter for today.

  - I don’t feel well - sobbed Hyulaya.

  - They have given you sleeping pills to make the relocation to the camp in a more organized way, during your sleep. No competitions are scheduled for today, so you'll be fine. No interruption please.

  Christian Mutwa started reading monotonously the program. It included getting to know the camp, the panorama, the tents and equipment for aids and facilities. It was prohibited to leave the area outside the enclosure, and converse with those who held the games, called "Survival as an ancient man." They could only talk with each other. They were obliged to wear the kits prepared for the task during the day and perform exactly according to the instructions. All competitions would be held individually. At each end of the day they would announce the score or the points. Finally, both who have won the most points would wait the broadcast on television. According to the submitted text messages from viewers, the one who receives the highest support was about to get the promised award –a sum of one million.

  - Where are the toilets? - Laura asked.

  - Outside. Now Mark Credo will take care of you, he will be driving the vehicle. It is the last time that you talk with me. You will not ask questions to him because you will be punished with minus points. Wherever there is need, we have put inscriptions and signs. You can read the instructions and navigate. The competition except for physical endurance, will and skill, will also measure your intelligence. You need to understand yourself by yourself.

  - Can we help each other during the games? - Asked Anna.

  - Everything that is not forbidden is allowed. You can help each other and disturbed the others’ performance. Just keep in mind that everything is recorded. There are cameras and microphones everywhere.

  - Christian, who is in charge here? Where is the main producer? -the Asian Vaykua asked.

  - You may not call us by name. Our organizations is of little importance for you. We will provide, secure and manage the games. All you have to do is listen carefully and memorize because you have no right to write down or record. As you can see, there is no means of communication, your mobile phones are locked in a hotel safe in Niamey. You will survive as people survived millennia ago. Only aids like bows and arrows, stone hammers, wooden spears, and so on will be given to you granted, since you’ve no time to make them by yourselves. As well as clothing.

  At that time, another black man entered the tent by flapping the canvas at its entrance – he was tall and athletic, in a khaki camouflage uniform. He had brought light cotton clothes for everyone - smocks and trousers.

  - Are you Mark? - Asked Dillon.

  - No, his name is Frederick Thabo. The moment we get out of this tent for such a question you lose twenty points – Christian made it clear.

  - And what shoes will be given to us? - Baz said.

  - You will not have shoes, you will be barefoot. In the ancient savannah Sahara people have walked barefoot.

  All stared at their bare feet, because they were out of bed. Laura started complaining because she couldn’t find where her suitcase was. But they urged them to leave.

  ***

  The tour around the terrain was exhausting. That evening for the first time Anna could get asleep.

  Chapter 11

  The three Negroes - Christian Mutwa, Marк Credo and Frederic Thabo were already familiar to them. But in the first day of competition, in the morning, there came a white man. Anna knew such individuals - with thin necks and unnaturally large heads, as if bobbing unsustainable over their angular bodies. She called such people „chickens." This one had a grotesque flat face with small, pale blue eyes. His mouth was wide but thin, he had almost swallowed lips. Only his nose was large and fleshy. Mark introduced him as a producer. His name was Hans Tsyoler. Apparently he was of German origin. She remembered the conversation in German dialect overheard by her while she was still under narcosis.

  Christian, Mark and Frederick were dutifully standing straight and were keeping absolute silence.

  - Today you are going to take part in the first race under the code name "Water jump." You can get a maximum of one hundred points. The afternoon task does not count, but it is very important because it will show you how to provide and secure food. Mutwa will read the newsletter with a detailed schedule of the conditions and the conduct of "Water jump". Thabo will deliver clothing and tools for survival in nature, and Credo will transport you to the pitch in the truck and on your way back - by helicopter. You may not question any of us, comments and references are not allowed. You can talk with each other.

  All were silent. Anna had no doubt that this was one of the Germans, whose conversation she had heard in the tent, the one who gladly mentioned the crocodiles.

  Producer that Anna had already called the "chicken" got on a motorbike and rode away, and the three guardians took up their duties. Christian Mutwa read very clearly and explained in detail everything on the upcoming event "Water jump." It would be done from a swinging plank like jumping in a pool, but the goal was to be used as a catapult, and with the help of a special extension rope to jump at the right time onto a tree, situated five meters away. The board was four meters high. Then they were allotted specified time to pass and go to some rope ladders hanging from the helicopter and, without being secured, to hold on in a way, so that they do not fall as the helicopter transports them back to base.

  This time even Laura did not create tension. They received their shorts and sleeveless T-shirts and special cables five meters long with hooks at the end. On one side they had thang them before jumping on a metal ring in the board, and on the other side of his belt, and once they caught the branch of the tree, they had to detach quickly, not to be taken by the swaying thick board. Walking barefoot on gravel, though overgrown with rare low grass land was not unusual for any of them, but even Hyulaya that had the most delicate little feet did not complain. The weather was unbearably hot and humid.

  In the truck they rode with Frederick Thabo and Mark Credo was driving.

  Anna sat beside Dylan Frank. She understood that he was a teacher of English literature and French.

  - My dear sir, I'm sure you understand French even in slang. These three black handsome guys, our guards, are, in my opinion, from South African and they do not speak French. So, do not talk to me in English and if possibly – do not comment what I will tell you. We are here for some ugly experiment, and if divided, one by one we will become food for the crocodiles. The Young are all children of single mothers without social status and no profession that provides high standard of living. I do not know what kind of a person Evening Breeze is, but it seems to me a man of dignity. Today, I suggest that I come first and you last, so we can both try to manage and direct the game, to talk softly but distinctly, and leave all the screaming and emotions to teenagers. Everyone will win
any money, but the most important thing is to return safe and sound.

  Dylan stared absent-mindedly at the landscape and only squeezed her hand completely unnoticed. Louis, as each hothead from France, had taught her a special French slang. She reassured that the participants were all intelligent people. They might have the chance to survive.

  Hyulaya and Laura started teasing Baz and were giggling. Their mood had risen. When they arrived on the field, they were surprised that out of nowhere, among the lush vegetation there emerged a concrete staircase. They climbed a concrete landing and on the other edge was mounted on a board, literally for jumping in the basin, but four or five meters down there was a rocky precipice, and in the next five meters only a tree with a broad crown was growing. As far as they could see, the trunk was quite high, it had thin branches with even thinner leaves on them. Furthermore, there were palm trees. Frederick had climbed on the landing together with them

  . - Mr. Vaykua, can we talk? - Anna asked very quietly, while others were gaping of surprise and peering from the site.

  - Of course - his the answer was in broken English.

  - Let's try to understand from this black young man why he has come. I will scream and I will bet that everyone will come back, and you will bet that everyone will jump on the tree.