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Once we were in the air, Sergei announced that we had plenty of time for sleeping. I had to disappoint him. It wasn't that the plane was poorly equipped. It could practically fly by itself. Only in an emergency would the pilot be needed. However, for this eventuality, it was imperative that I do stay awake. And to assure that I do, someone had to stay awake also. There simply was no other choice available.
Igor didn't mind. We talked about everything we could think of, in the hope that something interesting would crop up that would keep us from dozing off. Eventually Sergei joined us. He couldn't sleep. He kept us going as he went off into a long harangue, telling us how much he enjoyed those last days.
"It was a real treat to have nothing to worry about, no more missiles to fear, no more sirens to think of in the back of my mind, no troubles to watch for in Moscow," said Sergei. "Also it was good to have the house full again as in the olden days when Valentina was still living at home. Everybody was happy in those days...."
I knew what he meant. Except this wasn't the mental background I needed for staying awake. I agreed that he was right and stretched myself in the cramped space of the pilot's seat; "However, what we need most right now, is a good controversy!" I looked at Sergei, watching what his reaction might be. But there was none. He just yawned. I told him what I had said right from the start, that the physical removal of the nuclear weapons was not by itself going to create peace in the world. "Peace won't be won, just like that!" I added.
"Yes, but a great step has been made!" he defended himself. He looked tired. I hated to go on with this. I should let him sleep, but I couldn't.
I replied that I didn't dispute what he said; "Except, don't you see, a single step, no matter how gigantic, won't do when still a whole race is to be won! Peace, by its nature, goes very deep, while society hasn't even begun to touch on anything deep."
Well, that got him going. Sergei sat up and strongly disagreed.
I challenged him. I told him about a peace march I was once in, back in Denver, in the summer some years ago. A hundred-and-forty-thousand people had come together to demand peace. In real terms, though, they hadn't come for peace at all. They hadn't even come in the name of peace. They had come to fight, to fight for peace, or more correctly, to beg for it. They came there hoping that some government or institution would graciously give peace to the world, because of their asking, and that they would put it into their laps or hand it to them on a platter!
Sergei grinned. He asked how the march went.
I grinned back at him. I was quite awake now. I told him that I had joined the funny band! I had noticed the band among the procession. They were all dressed in the craziest costumes. Everyone played a different instrument. It was quite something to watch. But that wasn't why I stayed with them. I told Sergei that I stayed with the band, because it was the only group I felt comfortable being with. "They weren't there to fight, or hold their hands out. People around them danced. I knew I fitted in, there, because where they were, there was already peace. The singing and dancing was a celebration of peace. We danced all afternoon, that day, right through the midst of the city of Denver, and had the most marvelous time doing so."
"So it was a peace rally, really," Jennie interrupted.
"Yes, for us it was!" I said. "The point is, we might have been the only group in this entire march that wasn't there to protest, to fight governments, but were out to enjoy the peace that we felt within. The point is, we were only about thirty altogether."
"Thirty!" Sergei repeated.
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Stories about
War
from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche
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