Fanfare for the Common Man (standard:other, 0 words)
Author: The Dark Master	Added: Jun 14 2001	Views/Reads: 3287/2219	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
One day that changed everything for a Romanian coal miner.

FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN 

Nicolae Antenescu's ancient alarm clock filled the room with its raucous
chorus.  The jangling continued for a while and slowly faded into 
nothingness as the alarm's spring wound down.  Nicolae's eyes opened 
and stared upward into the darkness.  It was 4:30 a.m. and the sun had 
not risen yet.  Nicolae's hand slowly went to the light switch on the 
wall and fumbled with it for a while before finally flipping the old 
plastic lever.  A single light bulb suspended from the ceiling cast its 
rays upon Nicolae and his wife, Elena.   Nicolae's eyes adjusted to the 
dim light and he stared at the gray wallpaper on the ceiling, sloughing 
off and spotted with water stains.  Nicolae sat up on the mattress and 
removed the sheets from his body.  He turned and put his feet on the 
cold, wooden floor.  Elena stirred in her sleep, unhindered by the 
light and the alarm clock; it was all such a routine.  Nicolae's eyes 
shifted to the corner of the room and focused on his pile of work 
clothes.  A pair of old black rubber boots, waterproof pants and a 
jacket, and a plastic helmet mounted with a battery-powered lamp lay 
stacked in the nook.  Another day in the mines, another day at the job. 


Nicolae slowly rose to his feet and dressed himself.  He turned off the
light in the room and plodded into the kitchen.  A few grimy pots and 
pans lay scattered about the small, cramped room, and a two-burner gas 
stove was wedged in the corner next to the sink.  Elena had made him 
his usual ham sandwich and placed it along with a bottle of water in 
his metal lunch box set on the table.  Nicolae picked up the steel box 
and left the house.  Similarly dressed men emerged from their dark 
apartments and joined up, offering greetings and good humor to their 
comrades.  Nicolae walked to his friend Ion's house a few blocks from 
his own, and knocked on the wooden door.  The door opened momentarily 
and a tall man walked out. "Morning, Ion," said Nicolae as the two men 
began walking down the street. "Hi, Nicolae," replied Ion, "Yet another 
morning." Nicolae coughed a deep, awful cough, stopped for a moment and 
wheezed. "Ion, I swear it seems that this cough gets worse and worse 
everyday. I don't know what it's from," said Nicolae breathlessly after 
his fit subsided. "Probably an allergy since it seems like everyone's 
got it.  So don't worry about it," Ion said sympathetically. 

The two men continued on in silence and the sun began to rise from the
east, bathing the small town of Brasov in its early-morning light.  A 
steam whistle sounded in the distance and the two men could see the 
towering spires of the refineries and the smokestacks of the factories 
in the distance.  Silhouetted against the sky, thick black smoke poured 
from the stacks and made its way overhead.  The two miners walked a bit 
farther, until they came to a bus stop packed with fellow workers.  A 
Company man was handing out styrofoam cups filled with hot, black 
coffee to workers who presented their labor cards.  Nicolae and Ion 
displayed their cards and were given their ration of coffee.  The men 
quickly downed the contents of their cups and threw them into a trash 
receptacle.  Nicolae and Ion were leaning against a concrete wall when 
another man approached them.  He was short and stocky, with a shock of 
black hair and a thick moustache.  Ion and Nicolae looked at each 
other, unsure of what to do. "Hey Antenescu, still living in that hovel 
you call an apartment?" sneered the antagonist. "Screw off, you lousy 
bastard," retorted Nicolae. "Just stating the facts, my good friend.  
You see, I just bought myself a new apartment near the town square.  
It's got great plumbing, good lighting, fabulous..." "Go fuck yourself 
and do yourself a favor, " Ion said coolly to the braggart. "There's a 
reason why you live alone, Eugen," said Nicolae, "no woman would ever 
touch you." Eugen Dzherinscu crossed his arms and his mouth twisted 
into a half-smile as the Company bus pulled into the stop. "Your wife 
certainly didn't think that way, Antenescu...," snickered Eugen. 
Nicolae's eyes narrowed.  He was about to raise his fist to strike 
Eugen, when Ion restrained him. "Not now, Nicolae, not now," Ion 
intervened. 

Still prickling with anger, Nicolae boarded the bus with the fellow
workers and managed to get a seat.  The bus filled with workers fresh 
from their caffeine fix, now ready for the day's work.  The decrepit 
vehicle rattled as it pulled away from the stop and headed toward the 
factories.  Nicolae entertained the thought of murdering Eugen, gladly 
wrapping his hands around the bastard's fat neck and wringing the life 
out of him...this man who had attempted to lure his wife away.  The bus 
downshifted as it passed by large heaps of smelted iron and great piles 


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