L-3: At the End of the World

‘Why do you want to go there?’ asked the old man and put the meal on the table.

‘That’s a personal matter,’ said the man at the table and pulled the plate with steaming meat soup closer.

‘Well, if it is a personal matter then I cannot help you,’ said the pub owner and turned to go away.

‘Wait,’ said the man. He was thinking quickly. ‘I cannot tell you much. But I can tell you this. I am looking for a man with one eye. He is about ten years older than me. He did something very bad to me and my family. I swore that I would find him. I swore to myself that if I had to go to the end of the world to find him, I would go to the end of the world.’

The old man turned and laughed, ‘Well, you are very close!’

‘Close to what?’ asked the man with the meal on his table.

‘You are almost at the end of the world,’ said the old man. Then he took a chair from a nearby table and sat down opposite the man. ‘You should eat or your food will get cold,’ he said and pointed at the man’s plate. But the man didn’t care about his meal.

‘Have you seen the man I have described to you?’ he asked the old man.

The old man wiped his hands into a kitchen towel, while he was looking into the other man’s eyes. ‘I might have.’

‘You might have or you have seen him?’ asked the man. He was getting impatient.

The old man threw the kitchen towel over his shoulder and then he said: ‘Three years ago, a one-eyed man came to this part of the world. Not many people come here. As you can see, there is nothing here. This is the last village with the post office.’

‘Tell me about the man. Did he stay here?’

‘He stayed two nights, if I can remember correctly,’ said the old man. ‘Then he left.’

‘Has he ever come back to this village?’ asked the man.

‘Yes. I have told you this is the last village with the post office. He comes here once a month. Always in the first week of the month,’ said the old man.

‘So he lives somewhere close.’

‘No, not close, but not too far away from here.’

‘Where?’ asked the man. He stopped breathing and waited for the old man to answer his question.

The old man smiled before he replied: ‘At the end of the world.’

‘How do I get there?’

‘Look,’ said the old man. ‘I don’t know what this man did to you or your family, but the truth is that I don’t like him. So I will tell you how you can get there,’ said the old man and after a few seconds he continued: ‘Take the path behind the village, leading through the forest. After one day, you will get out of it and you will walk on for another day. You will arrive at a big rock in the shape of a chair – we call it The Devil’s Chair. When you get there, turn to the west and do not stop walking. Three days later, you will be there!’

‘Where?’

‘At the end of the world,’ said the old man. He didn’t laugh this time. ‘There are cliffs and behind them there’s the endless ocean. No one can go further.’

‘And the man with one eye?’

‘You will see his house. It is an old church building. It doesn’t have the tower with the bell now. The man repaired the roof and painted it in white. Right behind the building there are the cliffs. You will find your man in that house,’ said the old man and got up from the table.

‘How do you know all this?’ asked the man.

‘As I have said,’ answered the old man, ‘I don’t like this man.’

‘Good,’ said the man and picked up his spoon to eat his food. ‘Can you please bring some more beer,’ he said to the old man and started eating.

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