TUNNEL VISION The shriek wailed through the darkness. “Can someone please shut that damn baby up!” someone shouted from the other end of the tunnel. “Shh!” came the reply from the numerous other occupants. It had been quiet for days but they still couldn’t be sure that all of them had left. They no longer heard the stomping of the soldier’s boots or the tracks of the tanks rumbling overhead, but everyone was still too scared to make a sound. Except for Francesca’s baby, Lillian. These weeks in the tunnel had been tough on everyone, especially an eight-month-old baby.
- Mieke Botha
every fart, any noise that was human-made set everyone’s teeth on edge, as if someone had just scratched their fingernails down a chalkboard. Edmund had managed to remain calm and focused and was often able to soothe the nerves of the people around him. He was respected by the people in the town, which is why they followed him down in the first place. He had counted three hundred people (more or less) that he had managed to persuade to hide in the tunnels. It was no easy feat but as they cowered underground, listening to the bombs drop and the guns rattle, he felt assured that he had done the right thing and that gave him peace. But then Lillian shrieked and the delicate ribbon that had held him together all this time, snapped.
Initially the plan was to save as many as possible. As the tunnel grew hotter and more crowded, people “Can someone please shut that damn baby up!” openly started vocalising their regret at letting anyone follow them down the sewer holes and into “Shh!” the sewer tunnels that criss-crossed underneath the “No, I will not ‘shh’. I am tired of being afraid that entire city. an infant may be the death of us.” There was Alfred, the most senior citizen, who He pushed his way through the crowded tunnel until coughed loudly at least once every ten minutes. It was a hacking cough that required an entire process he reached Francesca. Hands grabbed at him, whispering pleas for him to calm down. He to loosen the mucus settled in his chest. It would wouldn’t. He stood in front of Francesca. start with him clearing his throat and then heavy breathing that built up to a minimum of four barks in “Give her to me.” rapid succession. He didn’t even try to lower the “No,” she replied, barely louder than a whisper. volume. At first the tunnel occupants were most afraid of being discovered, but now it irritated them “I said give her to me!” he shouted. so much that many would not have had second thoughts about pushing him out of the sewer hole. “Shh, please Edmund. They’ll hear us,” said Betty who acted as Francesca’s surrogate mother after her Elise and Eva were wonderful girls, but they were real mother had been killed. also typical girls and throughout the tensest moments that they spent in the tunnel, the two girls Edmund pushed the older lady aside and ripped would break into hysterical laughter. Perhaps they Lillian out of her mother’s arms. Francesca were nervous, some thought, but it would be a screamed but someone quickly put a hand over her ridiculous way to get caught – the laughter of two mouth to muffle the sound. Lillian began crying in teenage girls giving you away. earnest now and Edmund was forced to shout over The tension no longer came from the outside of the her wailing. tunnel, but from within. Every sneeze, every sigh,