Trafika Europe 9/10 - UK in Europe

Bakhtiyar Ali

the nature of those he was visiting, and they in turn knew something about his nature and obsessions. But there was still an opening, there was still a way, and he hoped that he could successfully complete his mission. He had left their last encounter with a good impression, and he held on to that good impression during the arduous climb. Walking up the proud and rugged mountain, he was certain that although his life had been chequered with bad deeds and cowardly ruses, he himself was neither cruel nor mean-spirited. Despite all his evil deeds, there had been good moments in his life. There had been moments when he had wanted to be something else, wanted to snatch his soul out of the Devil’s hands and wash it clean.

But he knew his spirit had never been free, and he was not afraid to admit it. ‘I am not a free spirit,’ he would say. The village he was walking towards, small and invisible, was sunk between the mountains. It was like a prison or a place of exile. Only three men lived there, in one of the villages destroyed in the 1980s. The village used to belong to Sahar Agha, whom, of course, we all know today as the Baron of Imagination. The Baron had abandoned the property because of the rough terrain, its remoteness and barrenness. In the end, at the Leader’s request and once an amnesty had been declared, the Baron – one of those broad-shouldered men who has had a hidden impact on many things in

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