Freiheit!

 (Based on 'Ode to Joy' from 'Symphony No.9 "Choral" ' by Ludwig Van Beethoven)

30-year-old Frida Braun was sitting by the window, watching the sky turning dark. The last rays of sunlight were gone, and stars were replacing the white clouds.

She got up and sat down on the sofa, reading today’s news. East Berlin had been slowly waking up from its years of oppression. For months now, people had been sick and tired of the Soviets, who were so busy extracting everything from them. But now, no more…

The voices were being heard.

Frida sighed. How many months it had been since she had last saw her son? Her husband – she didn’t know. He had tried desperately to defect the Brauns to the West. One day, he had disappeared…and was found no more…

Yes. She remembered.

13 years. She had last seen her thirteen years ago, on the thirteenth anniversary of the wall…the Wall which took away everything…the Wall which oppressed freedom.

That damn wall.

Sometimes, Frida would lie in one corner and weep silently. She was the only one alone in her family. No one…absolutely no one was there….

Sometimes she felt that she just didn’t belong over here…

Sometimes, she simply wanted to die.

But Frida had discarded the above thought, for she knew, someday will come, someday where the Wall will be broken down…

Someday, she might see her son again…

So she hoped for something to come…some change…as she would lie asleep, while outside the sound of gunshot were heard…

The gunshots thrown towards those who wanted to escape…

Who wanted freedom.

However, today was different. Frida could feel the atmosphere charged…something was going to happen…

As Frida opened up the T.V., it was 7.15 p.m. in the evening. The atmosphere was tense…

After a short 2-minute commercial, the news began to run…

And what she heard, made Frida very much surprised, as it did to the whole of East Germany who were watching the evening news…

‘This is to hereby declare that East Germans of all ages are now allowed to travel freely anywhere. As said by Gunter Schabowski, East Germans can now easily defect to the West. No restrictions…er, and he has also said that the Wall has lost its essence…travelling permits are now free…’

Frida couldn’t believe her ears. She turned off the telly.

Was it true?

When her eyes fell upon the window, she was even more surprised.

People had come out in twos, and they were walking towards the Berlin Wall. Soon, it turned into fours, the eights,

Very soon, it turned to hundreds, and all had one common destination – including Frida’s, who had also come out now…

THAT DAMN WALL.

As the East Berliners gathered near the crossing points, Frida now felt a bit afraid. According to the news, the change wasn’t to take effect till the next day. So technically, the guards

(not guards but ambassadors of Satan)

had still the power to open fire. And seeing a huge crowd like this, how will they - ?

For a few moments, the people on one side and the guards stood, looking intensely at each other. It was pin-drop silent…

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, the night air was suddenly filled with a masculine voice:

‘Frida? Frida Braun?’

Upon hearing her name, Frida went forward through the crowd, and stood in front of the line.

‘Ma’am, you’re not allowed to…’

But the guard’s voice was interrupted by another voice – this time, of a child:

‘MAMA!’

Frida turned her head, and saw him.

Her son. The son she had so thought to have lost thirteen years ago after the bus accident…

But who was the man standing next to him? Was it…

‘Frederick? Are you Frederick Braun?’ she called out. By this time, everyone was looking at her.

A shout of joy replied back, as the man along with the child rushed towards the young woman. Soon, Frida was in tears…

Her long-lost family had finally returned…

‘I thought you were lost…I thought…’

‘It’s okay, now…we are all…’

‘Sir.’ The second guard on duty now called out. ‘This is not…’

But then, to his horror, he saw the people now trying to burst in through the crossing lines…

‘LET US THROUGH!’

‘WE WANT FREEDOM!!’

‘TEAR DOWN THE DAMN WALL!!!’

‘WE WANT OUR FREEDOM! WE WANT OUR FREEDOM!’

The protest rang out in multiple voices. Every man, every woman, every child was shouting aloud. And then, the guard realised that no more…

No more can they be kept in now…

The brotherhood which had been shut down for so long…didn’t really shut down…

Bonds cannot be broken….

After decades of separation they had enough.

Thus, just as his partner cocked the gun, he immediately ordered to open the gates…

‘But Sir, we…’

‘Do as I say.’ the guard responded, as tears of joy began to well up in his eyes…

The people rejoiced, jumped and danced as the gates were opened. The Iron Curtain had fallen. The past decades were horrific enough for those who lived through it but now, things were finally turning out to be good…

In the midst of this, Frida suddenly had an idea.

She went up to a pavilion, and then roused everybody’s attention.

Then, she opened her mouth, and sang:

‘O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!’ (Oh friends, not these sounds!)

Following her, the son also sang:

‘Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.’ (Let us instead strike up more pleasing

and more joyful ones!)

The crowd held its breath for awhile, and then someone shouted:

‘Freude!’ (Joy!)

‘Freude!’ a couple of people called out,

And then, to Frida’s surprise, she saw the entire square singing the old song of Joy…as the German flag soared high...

 

'Freude, schöner Götterfunken 

Tochter aus Elysium,

Wir betreten feuertrunken,

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

Deine Zauber binden wieder

Was die Mode streng geteilt;

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,

Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt!!’             

 

Frida’s eyes filled with tears – no, not tears of sadness.

She was finally happy, after all these years…

***

M.Macabre

16.12.2020

Dedicated to: Ludwig Van Beethoven (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!), Redi, R.Escreva, Anonymous, Nemo, The Alienist