Taey Iohe



The latest arrival 





Silence.


Zero     How long since we’ve been waiting here?
Fall       Hm. 45 minutes.
Zero     Why?
Fall       Crossing borders. They change the engine of the train.
Zero     End of the train?
Fall       No, engine. The engine and the driver.
Zero     How would you know?
Fall       I’ve been here before.
Zero     I see.


Zero steps out into the platform to walk from the front of the train to the other end. Zero sees people asleep inside the carriage, some others climbing down too. Zero spoke to some people who wore uniforms. There were two different kinds.

Zero also sees two men across the platform, lying on the cement floor, closed eyes, relaxed arms. They must be basking in the heat. Zero looked about himself for a moment, and got back on board the train.


Fall       Well?
Zero     It’s not moving.
Fall       No, we are not.
Zero     What do we do?
Fall       Wait.
Zero     I know, but what if someone attacks us? Someone walking through the tunnel? All sort of people try to come through this way, you know.
Fall      Train’ll move.
Zero     You don’t find this tedious?
Fall       We wait.
Zero     But we are on their territory. They checked everyone’s papers already.
Fall       You never know.
Zero     Idiots.
Fall       I need some sleep. It will move eventually.
Zero     I mustn’t drift off. I’d better be awake to see what’s happening.
Fall       It doesn’t matter, we are already on our way.


Fall closes his eyes.

Zero   I can’t tell if we’re moving.

Silence. The bell of a church rings twice in the far distance. Fall stands up to stretch.

Noise.

Turn     How long are we waiting here?
Moss   45 minutes.
Turn     Why?
Moss   On the border now, they change the head of the train.
Turn     Head of the train?
Moss   Yes, with engines and driver.
Turn     How do you know this?
Moss   I crossed the borders before.
Turn     What happened then?
Moss I failed.


Turn tries to follow Moss closely, but playing on the tip of the rail. Turn thinks if he continues to walk without falling from the tip, he will make this journey. Turn puts his finger into his nose. Black gunk comes out. Two people he left behind, he tries to shake his head off to forget about it. By the end of this tunnel, there will be light, there will be a pond, there will be a trash with fresh fruit in it, there will be a large fabric I can cover myself at night, he thought.


Moss     Come on.
Fall         I can’t hear.
Moss     Stop.
Fall         It’s not moving.
Moss     No, we are not.
Turn       What do we do?
Moss     Wait.
Turn       I know, but what if someone attacks us? Someone tries to stop us to live?  
Moss      We will have dinner somewhere.
Turn       You find it not tedious?
Moss     We wait.
Turn       I am hungry, I am tired, I am angry, I am sleepy.
Moss     I know.
Turn       (frown) idiots.
Moss     We better carry on. We are not going back.
Turn       When can I go back to my room again? I left my notebook there.
Moss      We will never go back there, Turn.  
Turn       (following Moss closely again)...


Silence. The bell of church rings twice in far distance. Moss puts his dusty hand to Turn’s shoulder. A hint of light started to shine somewhere on the front. Not knowing whether that’s the threat or hope.





[end]








It is 50km to cross the channel between France and Britan through the tunnel, the train goes in 100 miles speed. Each year, a number of immigrants who attempt to cross the channel died.