One Pebble at a Time

         Kaufman sat with his back against the cold musty wall; he could feel the dampness penetrating his thin prison shirt and the bare soles of his feet. He was robbed of one of his senses – sight. It was so dark in the cell, he often wondered if his eyes were opened or closed. He had to rely almost solely on his ears, which told him: that his cell-mate was sleeping soundly emitting a constant snore, that tiny feet were scurrying past, and that the jailer was making his rounds, his steel toed boots clanking on the stone floor.
         Kauf had learned a little about prison since he had voluntarily walked in. He now knew what it was like to wonder about the little theories, and think on subjects like time travel. By now, he had developed a strong yearning for a citrus fruit, or a piece of paper to write the stories his mind was brilliantly inventing.
         But mostly, he had learned not to think about the warehouse, or his sweet Kaia. He had learned to build up thick walls, well cemented around his brain. He had learned that if one concentrates hard enough, they can simply pretend that no one cares if they live or die.
         Kaia almost never broke through the walls and invaded his thoughts. Nor did his mother, or deceased father. Only one thing kept intruding, between every thought it would lie in wait, ready to attack. Seven words, why did it have to be me?

         Three years ago, he had been lying on a straw mattress. He had thought at the time that it was itchy and unbearable, but he endured it, night after night. The mattress lay in the corner of his home – a small building that he lovingly (and disgustedly) called “the warehouse”. The warehouse was too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter. The winds swept through every crack, and the tin roof played out loud songs in the hail storms. As a rule, the warehouse did little to provide comfort. Kauf later joked that it only provided him with a roof.
         The warehouse had huge sliding metal doors on two sides. Whenever someone had a broken mechanical item, they just rolled it into the warehouse, and Kauf fixed it. Everything from harvesters to  aerial screws and ovens had been fixed in that shop.
         That's how he had met Kaia, she had pushed a mechanical buggy into the warehouse, uphill two miles. By the time she reached Kaufman, she was drenched in sweat, and as cross as an old mule. But, after she had settled down, and noticed Kauf's bare feet protruding from beneath a car, she decided she could fall in love with a guy like him. Kauf joked (later on) that it was because he had such handsome feet.
         After she went home, she took a hammer to her lamp, so she would have an excuse to return to the warehouse. When Kauf saw the lamp (badly dented and cracked with electrical wires sticking out), he laughed, and she knew that he had figured everything out. After that, she just walked to the warehouse daily, with no excuse.
         The truth was, Kaia didn't like Kauf for his handsome feet. She found his personality rather pleasant, and uplifting. In a way, Kauf reminded her of her own dad, right down to the way he smelled of old grease. She should have suspected that Kauf would end up in jail, for her father was already doing fifteen years, and he and Kauf were so much alike.
         Both her dad and Kauf liked to read the forbidden text, they both refused to live in government housing, partake in the money that the government handed out equally to everybody, and neither of them wore shoes.
         But Kaia remained unsuspecting until she went to the warehouse late on a Monday night, and Kauf wasn't there. She was instantly worried, because Kauf never left the warehouse, except for groceries, cogs and other mechanical parts. So, she sat down on a detached buggy seat, and waited.
         When Kauf returned, Kaia knew. She knew by his warm flushed face, his smile, and even the way he breathed, stood and spoke, that he had committed his first crime. Men like Kauf couldn't be subjected to live a life in oppression. Kaia tried to get him to promise that he wouldn't get himself jailed or killed.
         Two and a half years passed, and Kauf never got caught. He would commit his crimes so secretly, and so cleanly that not even the head of the science department could nail him. They dusted for fingerprints, and compared handwriting, they talked to criminals on the streets, and searched through every alley at night.
         But Kuaf was never found. If the officers had ever suspected Kauf, they quickly put it out of their minds.
         But one day, Kaufman decided to change everything. At high-noon he committed a crime of epic proportions, he signed it, and then, like a fox, he crawled back to his den.
         On the way back to the warehouse, he whistled all the way, grabbing a nearby branch, and swinging it listlessly around. His clothes bore the evidence in red, but he didn't change. When the people in town saw him, they gasped, and retreated. But Kauf, his proud bare feet never missing a step, didn't look scared.
         When he got back to the warehouse, he put the stick aside, and threw all of his weight into sliding the rusty metal door open. His home, the warehouse, was a welcome sight. He cast a glance around the dusty room, and his eyes momentarily settled on an aerial screw. He could escape, he thought, looking across at the strange wooden contraption.
         Kaufman decided against it, and went back to whistling his happy little tune. He didn't bother to slide the door shut behind him, that way, the officers could get in easier. Instead of closing himself in, he walked over to his straw mattress, and sat down upon the familiar bed. As he stretched his legs out, and leaned back against the warm metal wall, he smiled.
         Soon, he could hear the sound of distant yelling. It wasn't of the police, oh no, they would come in buggies. But even from a distance, Kauf knew that it was Kaia yelling at him. He didn't bother getting up, he just sat there, and waited for her to find him.
         When she appeared in the doorway her face was as red as her hair. At first, Kauf thought she was so red because she had just ran two miles, but then he realized she was angry. As soon as she saw him, she doubled over and started gasping for air, a two mile run uphill was quite difficult – even for her.
         Kaufman, sensing her anger, pushed himself up into a standing position, and waited for her to recover. When she did finally recover, the anger pushed up, gurgling out of her soul. She started screaming at him.
         “Kaufman! What did you think you were doing? Signing it?” Kaia yelled, not waiting for a response. “Put your boots on. Now.”
         “Boots-?”
         “Hurry up! You have about five minutes before the officers arrive. I want you cleared out of here in three. Take the aerial screw, go North, for the borders-”
         “Kaia-”
         “Change your name, dye your hair green, get fat, just get out alive!”
         “I'm not-”
         “You promised me, Kauf, you promised me you wouldn't get jailed or killed, and I-”
         “I didn't pro-”
         “-I can't lose someone else!”
         Kaia finally stopped her rant. Unshed tears pooled in her gray eyes, her jaw quivered in the slightest. Kauf reached out, and placed his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her heart thudding, and every single ragged breath she took. For awhile, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. But then he managed to speak in a cool, even tone.
         “Kaia, I never promised you anything.”
         That was more than Kaia could bear, the tears started leaking down her face, and for decencies sake, she covered her face with her calloused hands.
         “We have to make a stand, Kaia. If we forever watch in the distance, no one will ever be free. The generations after us will still be in bondage, never knowing what it's like to be free, never having the opportunity to believe what they want, to wear shoes or go barefoot, never having the choice.”
         “You never obeyed that law about the boots anyway.” She said, her voice coming out muffled behind her hands. For a moment, she wanted to laugh, even though it wasn't the correct timing.
         “I know, but that's the least of the laws, and you know it. Someone has to take a stand. The truth is, I always hoped it wouldn't be me.”
         Kaia yanked herself away from him, and turned to face the wall.
         “My dad took a stand, and it didn't do anything, Kauf. Anything.”
         “It did something. One pebble at a time, you can move a mountain.”
         “I don't care about the mountain. I care about my dad... and you.”
         
         Kauf wrapped his arms around himself. He hadn't talked to Kaia directly since then. At the most, he could yell down from his barred window as she passed by. Once, she had said she'd never talk to him again. Yet, for some reason, she continued to walk past everyday, just to shout an angry hello.
         The prisons were full of barefeet and dreams of a better future, trapped within stone walls. Everyday, the prison grew. But Kaufman was never moved. He had been strategically placed in his room, a room with one window facing Southward. When the day dawned, he could see the work that had gotten him imprisoned.
         The guard with the steel-toed boots had said it was so that in fifteen years the image would be tattooed into his rebellious brain, the reason why he was imprisoned. But instead of making Kauf mad at himself, he found himself gazing longingly at the graffiti. Fifteen years it would remain as a teaching point to him, and for fifteen years the people would read what he had written across the front of the general store.

THERE IS A GOD, THERE IS FREEDOM, READ THE FORBIDDEN TEXTS

-Kaufman

Words: 1748