In the midst of the night, my dry throat awakens me demanding a cold glass of water; my body was not yet rejuvenated for what was in stall for me the next morning. I needed rest but the thoughts of uncertainty played on my mind continually. The night before I made sure to set my alarm clock early, that way I could not be late no matter what and if something did go wrong, I had enough time to manage it.
I arrived to my destination with some time to spare. I faced it directly staring at it as if it had eyes. The only thing separating us at this point was the road full of traffic. I wait until the traffic settles; look left then right, only a single car in sight a fair distance away, my brain automatically tells me that it is safe to cross, as my feet move towards the other side of the road, the car approaches closer. I have two choices, to continue or to stop and wait for the car. I foolishly continue thinking the car would slow down but to my luck it speeds up, I react just in time to make it to the other side of the road. I approach the doors of the university; it senses my heartbeat due to how petrified I was and the doors open, a gush of cold air hits my face.
Looking at the information I had on my card, it read building D level 4. 2 levels above where I was, there were elevators precisely in front of me, I pushed the button and waited, the elevators were sluggish in a sense so I took the stairs; my knees ached with each and every step. When I reached the top I had a look around me, there were quite a number of empty rooms, to my right I saw a man fixing his black collared top walking towards the stairs I just used. I focused more on the hall I was in, shiny white walls boasting over priced paintings; above me was a large shiny chandelier dangling smoothly and freely.
Further progressing in the hall I look through one of the class windows and the room was filled with middle aged men some wearing suits and others not. The suits screamed class, vanity and happiness. Alongside these men were beautiful young women engaging in an educational engrossed conversation. My eyes are drawn somewhere else now, the room number I walk near matches the exact same as my card. I nervously tidy myself, coughing to clear my throat and take a deep breath. I knock three times, the door opens suddenly, an old man opens the door with a welcoming smile on his face, he introduces himself as I do the same, and I take a seat as we get to know each other. Though he was loud, positive and cheerful, I felt that his squinted brown eyes hid a certain unfamiliar past. Though his clothes were old and taint, I felt that he was wealthy. Though the years showed on his face, his body and personality were almost childlike. He sat there in his office chair swinging it from side to side. It was though he was a child in an adult’s body.
My first task I was given looked relatively easily, it involved cutting a wire and putting it in a cable, he demonstrated, he made it look so easy, his dirty fingernails moved so quickly arranging the colours of the wires into order. He had this aura about himself, a pleasant smell and vibe. Now came my turn to handle the cabling, my shaky, clumsy hands failed to put the cabling correctly, he was tall and masculine and me knowing that he was watching me made me feel awkward. I looked back to see a smile and hear some laughter, I laughed too to ease the embarrassment.
It was time for lunch, as I grabbed my sandwich from my bag, I thought I’d take a look at what he was having, his lunch looked delicious, white rice with pieces of meat and vegetables. He ate in such modesty, with his mouth closed; looking at his face he had patches of missing skin across his forehead, little flakes of his skin shed continuously and fell onto his office chair, his black hair was unkempt but only the front was pushed down in order to hide the skin disorder which could still be seen.
He got up to go wash his hands in the bathroom, he moved in such a robotic manner, perhaps it had something to do with him being an engineer. I roamed around the university once more, although loneliness lingered upon me, I was glad to see the happiness of people that lightened up these rooms.
Many hours after work I sat in the chair beside this man, for once it was silent, the only real sound was coming from the irritating computer whilst it was loading. His eyes widened as he asked me some questions about school, I told him all about the subjects I was doing, somehow war found its way in this conversation, his eyes lightened and many emotions were on his face including; sadness and bewilderment. He explained how he was forced to join the army when he was young and that he was told to flee to the country side where he’d train to become a soldier but he disobeyed and fled to Australia with his wife. Even throughout what would be such a horrific experience he still managed to smile.
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