The Succesor by Ismail Kadare

Author:Ismail Kadare [Kadare, Ismail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61145-453-6
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2011-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

FOUR

THE FALL

1

She was almost aware of being once again in a dream. The doorway was low, its lintel overhung with a peaceful, almost drowsy creeper, and she still could not work out why she was there. She put out her hand toward the iron ring, but she thought she heard herself knocking even before she had grasped it. Well now, she thought, although she did not feel any great surprise. It was fear that overcame her instead.

She took one step forward, but the knocking, far from halting, came louder and louder. The thuds were coming from the other side, sounding now far away, now very close. “Diabolical door!” Suzana yelled out loud, and woke up with a start. It was almost the same dream she had had two weeks ago, except that the knocking was now even louder than in her dream …

What’s making them knock like that? she wondered, not without a pang of anxiety. They had the keys and could come and go as they pleased any day of the week.

It was obvious that they could come as they pleased, and they often did. Suzana put the pillow down over her head like a thatch roof and figured she would be able to get back to sleep. The knocking had in fact stopped, but now she could hear feet tramping up the stairs. She also thought she could hear her mother’s voice. Suzana pulled her head out from under the pillow. Yes, that was her mother’s voice. But she wasn’t so much talking as screaming.

The young woman leaped out of bed, but before she got to the door it swung open. The screams seemed to be coming less from her mother’s mouth than from her tousled, long-faded hair. “Wake up, my daughter, they’ve come to evict us! Get up, unhappy daughter!”

Though only half dressed, though the blood had drained from her face, Suzana still managed to grasp the main point. They had two hours maximum to leave the house. A truck was parked outside and was waiting to take them away. Her brother was already racing down the stairs with armfuls of books.

Suzana needed to stay in her bedroom while she tried to get her hands under control. Then she realized it wasn’t her hands that were at fault. It was her brain that was jerking them this way and that. First she believed she should take none of the many objects surrounding her, then she thought on the contrary she should take everything.

The truck had backed up to the residence with its tailgate almost touching the front door. Suzana could not help noticing the license plate as she went up to it with her first load of winter clothes: LU-14 17. That means it’s come from Lushnje, she thought mechanically. Central Albania. The prime area for relegations.

As she went back upstairs, she passed two soldiers carrying furniture down. Her mother was busying herself on the landing on the second floor. Without looking left or right, her brother was running down the stairs a second time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.