Martin never sat idle at home. Instead, the fifty-year-old diligent accountant worked hard during the day and travelled harder around the world during his vacations to discover new cultures and to satisfy his constant need for amazement.
Even though he never adapted to many cultures, cultural diversity and its oddness always astonished him. He also did not agree with many women and remained single until the fifth decade of his life.
One thing that he always admired about different cultures was their wooden artifacts. He was passionate about the carefully handcrafted wooden sculptures. Their sharp curves and refractions bedazzled him. He was surprised by the efforts that go into bringing a wooden sculpture closer to life. His heart almost skipped a beat when he entered the wood and souvenirs market in Egypt and touched the face of a wooden sculpture of Nefertiti, the Egyptian queen. It reminded him of Michelangelo’s saying: „The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material!“
His love for wooden sculpture is palpable in his house. It gives an impression of a museum with several wooden artifacts brought to one place from different geographies. Marin also has all kinds of oil, rags and everything else that is required to maintain these artifacts. It has become a sacred routine for him to take care of his prized possessions.
For a person with a set schedule and busy life, Coronavirus pandemic, however, brought a major wind of change. What did Martin do? Remain locked up at home? He was most excited about his plan to travel to Peru to explore the market for manufacturing tiny wooden artifacts – the types one needs a magnifying glass to observe. This certainly did not happen.
Initially, his head was overcrowded with various thoughts of uncertainly. How was his summer going to be in light of the global ban? Would he sit at home all day? Would he start shouting at the children playing nearby his house for making noises, asking them to calm down while he could enjoy his tranquility sitting in his balcony? How was he going to face the situation for an unknown period?
Later, he prepared a list of activities that he could pursue during this time. It included daily workout, inventory of his artefacts, establish a reliable record of each masterpiece including their history, country of manufacturing and also finish reading the pile of books that have been pending for a long time, among many other things.
To his satisfaction, the first week of the lockdown went as planned without a major obstacle. He followed his new routine, did his workouts, almost finished a book that he had been procrastinating to read for a long time and started to record the details of his antique collections. He enjoyed going through them all over again. He had acquired some of them from India as well.
He had a special program for evenings and a special program for evenings. He would sit in his large balcony looking at the backyard garden of the refugee camp and a large forest. Since the children of the camp were off to sleep by this time, he would enjoy the absolute calmness of the place. He sipped his peppermint tea and read his book while softly playing his favorite music in the background. It was super relaxing for him. He would call it a day after a couple of hours and go to sleep.
Things went smoothly, and Martin was happy with his new routine.
Martin’s mother stayed in an elderly home. For her birthday, he wanted to send a birthday gift and make her feel special. He booked a violinist and went to his mother’s place to play what she and her friends were fond of listening to. All this was performed from a safe distance as coronavirus reached its peak. His mother loved the surprise. As a result, the violin player was invited thrice in a row to perform.
Back to his place, one morning, Martin decided to take care of his favorite sculpture. He brought a large table to the balcony and placed it along a low wall to get the maximum sunlight. This wall faced a small street separating Martin’s balcony and the back garden of the refugee camp.
Finally, he took out the sculpture closest to his heart – the Sumerian queen Shaddad, with her wide eyes and crown made of long branches of roses. This wooden statue needed special care because it was made of brown ebony. Brown ebony is mostly used for making parts of musical instruments such as piano keys, pipes, and special sculptures like the statue of Sumerian queen Shabbad.
He dipped a small piece of cotton cloth in a special oil and started to wipe Shabbad’s face. While he was completely immersed in the polishing process, his phone in the living room rang. He left the statue shining bright in the sunlight to answer the call. It was from his mother.
– Mom, are you all right?
– I am so happy, Martin. I want to thank you and ask you to send me more Players!
The call went on for half an hour. He could not convince his ninety-year-old mother that only this particular violin player works on small contacts like these.
He returned to the balcony to resume his work. Little did he know that he was going to get the shock of his life. The head of the statue was gone. The low walls allowed some 5 to 8-year-old children from the refugee camp to venture into his balcony. They were searching for a ball to play with. When they did not find one, they beheaded the statute to use it as a substitute. They even broke the long branches of her crown to have a perfectly round shape of the ball.
Martin was unable to figure out what exactly happened. He wondered if the kids dared to mess with something that did not belong to them. How? Why?
Enraged, he stormed into the management office of the refugee camp and reported the abuse and violation of his rights. He demanded a deterrent measure, banning the children permanently from playing in the back garden.
For his material loss, it could never be compensated. His torture increased every time he looked at the deformed Shabbad statue. After the incident, he did not get out of his room for days and isolated himself completely.
One day, the doorbell rang. He was not expecting anyone. Who could this be? He wondered.
He got up and walked slowly towards the door to open it. He is surprised to see two women. One middle-aged woman wearing distinctive oriental clothes, giving an impression that she comes from a village and her facial features suggesting that she is an Asian. The redness of her eyes reflected upon the circumstances that caused her to tear to rain, without relating to any particular nationality. The other woman was younger and looked tougher than her companion. She had grey hair and looked exhausted.
Martin’s first response:
– Yes?
First woman:
– How are you? I live in a refugee camp near your home
Unconsciously continues:
– Yes…
– We came today to apologize for what our children did.
The second woman continues:
– Yes, we apologize, but please, you should let our children play in the backyard. You don’t know what it means to prevent them from playing.
The first one continues :
– Since you submitted your complaint, our children in a state of great sadness. We do not know how to make them understand that what happened is a punishment. They are just children. We
The gray-haired woman then pulls out a velvet bag and showcases what was inside. They are very small sculptures – almost invisible – and require using a magnifying glass to see the small details.
Martin is astonished.
– These rare sculptures were given to me by a Peruvian girl who lived in the camp. She was recently deported and this was her gift to me. You can take them instead of the head of your sweetheart that was destroyed by our children. But please withdraw your request to prevent them from playing…
– I beg you!
Martin could not say anything. He took the small sculptures from the lady with gray hair.
The two women smiled and said goodbye to him.
He walked back inside. From his living room window, Martin saw the children waiting anxiously for their mothers to return from his house. The women smiled at them and assured that everything went well.
Martin was touched. Suddenly, he was looking at life differently. He could not understand what was changing him inside. Was it the women’s unconditional love for their children that they came to seek his forgiveness on their behalf, or was it the look of anticipation on the children’s faces, who could not wait for their mothers to return with some good news.
He walked up to his table and began to scatter the small sculptures on it. He lit the extra light on top and began inspecting it with the magnifying glass. The moment reminded him of his childhood when he would do anything just to play with the wood, smell its fragrance, cut it, collect it, and describe it.
He turned with the new masterpiece into a man of pulsed wood.
