Miquel Oliva Fuertes"The man on the train."
One day last year I was on the train from Madrid to Barcelona. I
had been in Madrid for two weeks with my uncles. I had a really
good stance in Madrid; I could meet with my old friends and knew my
new cousin who had just born. But now I had to come back to
Barcelona to start grade.
The man who was sitting next to me suddenly turned and said,
"Can I borrow your newspaper?" I was a bit bored and felt like
talking, so I lend it him. He thanked me. I asked him where he is
going to. He got up his glance and suddenly his face became white.
He replayed in a very low voice that he couldnt talk now. In the
same time, two policemen were crossing the bridge and the men got
up the newspaper to cover his face. He reached to slip past and
policemen walked. I was very surprised and I was starting to
scare.
When policemen left the bridge the man was quieter. He looked me
for ten seconds and said me in a low voice: You dont think wrong
about me please, it isnt that seems. In this moment, I started to
talk with man. His name was Roberto and he was a journalist. Police
have been gone after him since he wrote an article about the future
of royalty. He told me that in article he explains what could
happen when King died. Seizing the fact, he thought that this would
be the moment for change a lot of things in Spanish.
After this conversation, we arrived to Barcelona. Once already
on outdoor station, he said me he had to do some calls for knowing
where he can pass the night. Then he asked me if I could borrow my
mobile phone. I said that he could use it all that he wanted. He
started to dial some number and looked me with a smile in his
mouth. He did three calls and gave me back the mobile. Roberto said
me that he had to go to the toilet and he left. I havent seen him
since this day.
I dont know if Roberto has been captured by police. I only know
that freedom of expression sometimes is banned in Spain and in my
opinion, this shouldnt happen.
