Creative (Symbolic)

A Guided Tour of Suffering

Now for a change of scenery. If youd like to pick up your suitcases and follow me. We will
trael a little !it" to a damp" dark and cramped space. #es if you would all like to s$uee%e in.
In a moment youll o!sere a little secret storage room. Now" shall we see what is there&'
Now then( #oull find that to your left perhaps your right" or may!e een straight ahead"
you will see a small dark room. In it sits a )ew. *e is nothing. *e is scum. *e is staring. *e
is afraid. #es" all s$uee%e in so you can see him+ please madam" dont try to look away.'
#ou will o!sere that this man is sitting in the dark. *e is in hiding. Its the !est place" those
people had decided" it is after all" harder to find a )ew in the dark. ,h yes( And you see that
suitcase& #es you can see it if you look at it from oer here. That disgusting" putrid piece of
material hes sitting on. Its all he has left. Well" that and a few items from his preious life.
-ont worry+ theyll rot as he does.'
I reach for mummys hand and point at the man sitting in the dark"
.Whats a )ew mummy&
She looks down at me" with a sad smile+ she seemed to !e the only one upset !y the scene in
front of us.
.The humans !eliee that theyre the scum of the earth. Thats why hes hiding.
I look !ack at the man. A so/called )ew. *e 0ust sat on his suitcase" waiting. *ow many days
had he sat there now& *is eyes seemed so sad" he 0ust sat there with his hands clasped tightly
together looking at them intently as if" with enough concentration" he could set them alight
and end his misera!le e1istence.
That tattered and !attered suitcase was all that he owned+ e1cept an item or two from a life
now gone. *e clutched to its faded !rown leather e1terior" stroked it occasionally. 2ay!e he
was mad" may!e the hardships he had suffered had finally caught up with him !ut really it
held nothing of much importance.
*e had slung his 0acket around his frail" haggard frame to shield him against an icy wind that
forced its way in through cracks in the wall. *e shiered eery/so/often causing his ri!s to
Creative (Symbolic)
protrude een more from his yellowing" ragged shirt. Alone. *e was always alone.
,ccasionally" oices wandered past and sometimes hed een long for them to knock the
door" to open it" to drag him out into the un!eara!le light that inaded his dark cae through
the cracks in the walls.
3or now all he could do was sit on his suitcase couch. That once magnificent suitcase that at
one time carried important documents and loers notes4 now proided a place to sit so he
wouldnt hae to sit on that cold" dirty floor of his prison. *e clasped his hands under his chin
and scratched at the stu!!le that now infested his face. *e tenderly stroked the cases faded
golden writing once again. This man may not hae !een well educated !ut !elieed with all
his heart that this leel of cruelty could not !e maintained.
*is !lond" lamp/lit hair was disheelled and sticky and he wore a sad" a!surd smile as he dug
around in one of his dirty" ripped pockets+ he took out a worn and tattered photo+ yellowing
and cracked due to a lifetime of hard wear and icious elements. In it stood a tall and
!eautiful woman in an elegant flowing dress+ she had a !a!y !oy cradled in her arms+ his
eyes sparkling as the mans once had. The woman looked adoringly upon her little son as he
played with the ru!y necklace that swung so elegantly from her neck. It had shone so
!eautifully in the light of the sunlight that had !roken through the leaes in the trees. It had
!een a present from her hus!and. They took it as they took her !ut deemed it too precious for
the fire that consumed her5 and her child.
The man stroked the photo tenderly with his dirty finger" careful not to destroy the ink that
depicted her face so !eautifully. It was only a memory now" the only one left+ the Na%is had
made sure of that. *e a!sently stroked his suitcase one more time. It wasnt much !ut it was
the only thing left of their life together. The only thing left of his life that he had worked so
hard for. *e caressed its faded elegant golden lettering which !ore his initials and hers" his
fingers lingering oer hers" and then down its side to its rusted !ron%e corner pieces+ how
magnificent that suitcase had !een. *ow magnificent they had !een. Now look at them.
Suddenly" there came a knock" a smash" a !ang( And we watched 6some in horror4 some in
delight7 as a man in uniform !urst into the room. *e paused only a second to take in the room
as his eyes read0usted to the sudden change in light intensity. Then his eyes %eroed in on the
man with the suitcase. The man did not s$uint at the sudden fierce light nor did he flinch or
seem surprised at his sudden isitor !ut instead" simply sat on his suitcase and stared at him
with gla%ed" sad eyes and the man in the doorway stared !ack. Then with a sudden warped
Creative (Symbolic)
sadness the solider threw himself into the room upon the man" and his precious suitcase"
iciously dragging them out of their dark sanctuary and out into the !linding light.
*e still would not !link or flinch !ut instead 0ust lay there and allowed himself to !e dragged
off. 8efore our ery eyes they punched and kicked him repeatedly. Strings of mud and !lood
clutched at his face and suitcase" congealing in the hinges and clumping in his hair. It saddens
me sometimes" how people die. Si1 men !urned him with cigarettes. Two !roken hands.
Seeral !roken fingers. A !roken leg. A suitcase snapped in half from its hinges+ a neck
snapped. There were people eerywhere on the city street" !ut that man" that man with the
suitcase who had !een their local 0eweller" their neigh!our" their friend" faded into the
darkness" alone" unacknowledged" forgotten. *is !lood ran and was a!sor!ed into the
suitcases leather staining its tattered remains.
999
I hae seen many deaths in my time+ some peaceful" many not. 8ut it neer ceases to astound
me the cruelty of humans who cause each other such cruelty" suffering and pain" simply"
!ecause they can.