About a certain return

Part 11

– Ha-ha-ha! I won my bet! He got here on time, wasn't he, talked to other man?

– You really got here! Later than expected. You are in the middle room, said to me and grabbed my arm.

Next to him another chap appeared and grabbed me by the other arm. They didn't seem to be guardians. They had unusual clothes and some strange helmets on their heads with some sort of masks representing animals. One of them looked like a hawk, the other one a bull.

– I advise you not to be late again, warned me the Hawk. Only one person can make the others wait and that one is the Great Master.

I jerked away. Oh, but they were strongly holding me! I was carried in front of a grand gate, a tunnel front, and "the bull" pompously uttered:

– You must leave in front of this door all your misgivings, your faithlessness, your negative thinking. Prepare your soul for the greatest event throughout the existence of your being!

An ox, what can I expect from him! I had only negative thoughts. If I felt them all, I would stop thinking. Great words or solemnities of any kind warned me that disappointment lays in store for me. Now, what to hell, I had a certain age, I knew something about the human thinking... and, squeak, the door opened...! I was in a narrow place, in pitch dark, immobilized, alone. What was happen meanwhile, how...? I don't know. To whom did I wrong to throw me in detention? I asked:

– Is there anyone here?

– Squeak-squeak!

– What?

– Squeak!

But it wasn't quite dark; I stood with my back to the light. It had a massive concrete obstacle in front of me and I wasn't immobilized... I was only packed into a very narrow space, I could hardly move. I sneezed... cause I was covered in dust. "Achoo!" But how did I get in there? I lifted one foot, slowly turned, lifted the other foot, bent my legs, I lifted on my arms and I got on top of the obstacle, a sort of table, a concrete bed, or both. From the small room I could get out on the corridor. I heard a continuous sound in connection with the flashing light, each time the sound stopped the light was fading, and suddenly, nearby, somebody wailed a howling of pain...

– What am I doing here?

I didn't feel as being in a certain state, didn't feel any weight or disability, I passed my hand over the face and I seemed to be in one piece... "But what happened, Great Lady?" Me... I seemed not to be myself anymore! The face... the nose... the lips vanished, the eyes... My eyes...! However, I could see! I stood up. The walls were covered in tiles and splashed here and there with paint... It was plenty that of paint all over the floor's inlay... still wet... The smell! Is it blood? And again that horrific howling: Aaah...! " What is going on? I hope is not me the one who is wailing!"... I was powdered from top to bottom. I went to the middle of the corridor, to the railing and I looked up and down to see many levels... Then I looked along the corridor. The countless boxes... In each of them was a bed and on the walls it was spotted some notices, written with red paint, drooled in places, hard to understand...

"Tyrannical personality / jealous on other people's love / living a solitary life / without any delights":

I returned to the box from where I came out:

"Unhealthily prone to quibbles and arguments / Stupid and ferocious enemies"

Further:

"Close-lipped personality / Painful existence / with no rejoicing";