Long Story - Four Days of the Catastrophe - Part 8

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Part 8

"...the survival of the revolution depends on collective solidarity. All the collectives confiscate the surplus food across the country and deliver it to the other communes. In this environment, we show the world that the only alternative is cooperation and solidarity. We will help victims of disaster, not a single child on Greek soil would die of starvation. The catastrophe we live has paved the way for communal life in France. Their radio broadcasts show that the Paris Commune is about to regain control of the city after 152 years. The days of money ambition and luxury desire are over. In a few days, the regime will want to regain control. Let's be prepared for this in advance and try to convince local army units. We've been broadcasting this since the beginning of the disaster. My friend Alexei and I will breathe a little bit, and we leave you alone with Carlos Puebla's Hasta Siempre song…”

The most important thing we learned from this broadcast, which did not contain any information about the cause of the disaster was that it did not only affect Turkey. Therefore, the hypothesis that there was an enemy attack against Turkey had lost its validity. If such a broadcast could be made from Greece, why didn't the radios in Turkey broadcast? Did all the communications go from terrestrial to the internet? Wasn't there a channel that kept your old equipment? Besides, how could Greek communists have mastered the situation in such a short period? With their publication, they were creating an impression as if they were revolutionizing the whole country.

When my mind was busy with all these questions, the door of the villa was knocked. I got up and opened the door; I thought it was Nihan, her mother and son, and I was right. They came to me after finishing the hugging and mutual crying at the entrance hall. Nihan introduced me to her mother as a friend from work. I asked permission to leave after mutual good wishes.

“I will come with you,” said Nihan.

“Why is that?”

"Because you came here with me.”

“I'm all right.”

“If I leave you like this, I will keep you in my mind. And because of the bank's emergency procedures, I have to go to work.”

From her mother's looks, I understood that she didn't understand anything from our conversation.

Nihan explained the situation, “He is experiencing a temporary memory loss.”

I suddenly had a feeling that I had a wife and a child. It's like I missed them.

Gülten Hanım, Nihan's mother, said “You must have lost your mind. You're not going anywhere. First, we will show your wounds to the doctor in the hospital.”

“My wife and children may need me.”

“You must have never looked in the mirror, your face is as yellow as a lime, so you can't help even if you reach them.”

“According to my mother, you're a kid even if you're forty years old,” said the Nihon with the embarrassed smile.

“Let's go,” said the Gülten Hanım, rising, the dominant personality of Nihan resembled her mother.

The doctor who examined my ankle in the Health Center said that it should be cast. I said I could handle it with an ointment and a tight bandage. The doctor asked me detailed questions about my memory loss. When I expressed that I didn't hit my head anywhere, he said that great stresses could produce such consequences. I wasn't alone on this, and he thought my memory would be back in a few days. He wrote me a drug to speed up memory recovery.

After the X-ray, it turned out that Nihan had a fracture in her collarbone, and we both had to rest uninterrupted for a week. Gülten Hanım looked at us like saying, " Look, I told you so."

On the way home from the health center, Gülten Hanım said that there were enough dry legumes, flour, and olive oil in the storage area under the villa and that her daughter, who had been mocking her for this precaution, owed her an apology.

“You're the smartest and sweetest of mothers,” Nihan said.

Gülten Hanım replied, "I am happy that you understood it."

At the insistence of Gülten Hanım, we decided to go to the city center the next morning. I spent the night waking up and sleeping again, turning side by side in my bed, having nightmares reminiscent of horror movies.

We woke up under a dark sky, similar to the one before the day. We went out in a purple twilight. The land vehicle that brought us to Durusu was waiting outside the door, Nihan said she rented it from its owner. We cleaned the dust and mud that covered the windows of the vehicle and set off. The roads were like the previous day; the way that would first connect us to Kemerburgaz and then Levent was cracked and covered mostly with mud. We were stopped three times by the Gendarme at the checkpoints established along the way. I asked what exactly happened to the Gendarmes in all three of the stops. I didn't get a satisfactory response from any of them.

Nihan left me in front of my media company and went to work. When I entered the building, dozens of business-related memories attacked my mind at the same time. Small pieces of articles I wrote, make up on my face before video records, price charts with green and red bars, days and night to catch breaking news. All this time, there was nothing in my mind about my personal life. I didn't have a wife, lover, or children. I pressed on the eighth-floor button of the elevator, I leaned my back on the corner of the elevator and waited impatiently for the moment to come up.

The door of the floor where our office was located opened automatically because it recognized my face and I went directly to Bülent Şaşmaz's room. The director of the media company, Bülent raised his eyes from the world hologram that rotated over his desk, turned to me, looked at my feet and said, “good morning, come in, sit down.”

"Good morning, how's it going?”

"Wretched, I couldn't reach most of our friends.”

I told him what had happened to me as briefly as possible. “Let's get you a psychiatrist appointment,” said Bülent.

“Maybe it's a strange question, but do I have a family?”

“You're the only child I know; your father lives in Tarsus.”

“My wife, my children?”

"Maybe if you listened to my word and got married, you'd have. You ran after Beste for a while, and it didn't work out.”

It's hard to describe what I felt after hearing this in words. First, I felt relieved as if I had survived a severe illness, and then I was ashamed of myself that I was so happy and relaxed. This shame has left a deep sadness in a few seconds. Although I was worried about them, I was undoubtedly happier in the short time that I thought I had a wife and child.

"Is yours all right?”

“Thank God they're good. I don't know how things are going to work out.”

“There's a sound coming out of every head.”

"There is a global phenomenon. I think they're aliens. They landed in North Africa.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm not sure. How can I do journalism in this environment? There's still no internet, no electricity, no satellite. The viaducts have collapsed, roads have been blocked. I was going to retire this week. How can I leave it in this atmosphere?”

“It was early for you.”

“I'm tired. If you're sitting in a chair, you'il do what it needs. We don't know what happened and why it happened that way."

“You're not the only one who doesn't know it.”

"Others don't relate to me. We have a responsibility to enlighten the public.”

“Should I go to Africa?“

"How will you go? Planes can't fly, and roads are blocked.

"Is the quadcopter of the channel free?"

“I couldn't reach the pilot; I hope he is all right.”

“I can drive."

“If the weather was normal, it could be, nothing can be seen out there.”

“Soon the internet will start working. Let us determine the situation in Istanbul.”

“There's a mini flight simulator downstairs. Work on it. When you are ready, let me know.”

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