‎Organic Stories II

By Metin

Everyone was talking to each other. I felt like listening to the conversations. I wondered; what could they be talking about at this time of the morning? My curiosity quickly passed. Most of the conversations were based on gossip. Two men on my right were gossiping about someone at work, three students were talking about truancy and a few women were complaining about their husbands. That's the people of my country; they think gossip is something important. As if he has to consume a few thousand words a day, he talks idly. If gossip were banned, I am sure that hundreds of thousands of people would burst like a balloon from boredom.

***

When I looked at the top of the book, I saw two big and black eyes. His eyelashes and eyebrows were jet black. I think she had just dyed her hair. In that case, she had gone to the hairdresser at the weekend and had it groomed. "What do you care? Of course it's none of my business!" What am I paying attention to? The other day my girlfriend got a haircut and I didn't notice. How did I notice that? Oh, don't I...

***

There was a bulging wallet, some jewellery, I took them and threw the bag in the trash. I went a little further and went to the Gülbahar side. I made the second evacuation here. I opened the wallet, took the money and threw the wallet in the trash. Three thousand four hundred and twenty liras, six hundred dollars and one hundred and fifty euros, a ring, two earrings and a necklace. A marvellous haul! I had to get completely away from the area, so I went to the bridge, straight to Kadikoy. I congratulated myself with beer, potatoes and mussels. Then I went to Maltepe, it was evening. I realised there was music coming from a street up ahead. The place was buzzing. You say one hundred and fifty, I say two hundred people. The wedding was being held in front of a two-storey shanty with a large courtyard and a view overlooking the islands. I joined in. I realised there was a raki table, so I sat down. Everyone was having a drink and playing. So I quickly drank a double, poured half of it and threw myself in the centre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Metin Yazgaç
• Release date: Aug 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223663621

Book preview

imagine the lover

The train, the book and that woman...

I'm waiting for a train at the Marmaray station. It's crowded as usual. A community of people mostly going to work. I am talking about an intimate environment where everyone knows everyone physically. Relationships where we do not know the name, life, past, past, but somehow we are in physical contact due to the intensity, where there is a different energy flow. A mass that we can blindly guess from their smell, clothes and even their posture over time. It is inevitable when you use the same route for a certain period of time. You watch the outside for a while, but in time you get bored. Same stops and same houses, roads, landscapes. Since I read books regularly, I always have a book with me during my travels. Whether I am standing or sitting, I prefer to get away from the order I have memorised with the book. Especially when I am standing, a shoe or an odour can distract me while reading a book. Especially if it is a detail I have perceived before, it can draw my attention in that direction. Before I look, I play my guessing game; mind games where I compete with myself such as this smell belongs to the lady with blonde wavy hair and green shoes I met the other day or the gentleman wearing the vest of x company. I never forget a sound, a smell or a detail in a place. If I don't do these things, believe me, I cannot endure these journeys. Because whether it's summer or winter, I can't finish my journey if I'm in the grip of sour sweat and cheap perfume odours. At first, because it bothered me so much, I used to wander between the carriages until I got to the stop where I was going to get off. Then I got used to it and changed my point of view. Do you know what is interesting? If you take the train at the same time every day, you feel as if you are on a service carrying people who work at the same workplace. Over time, relationships can form where you can say Good morning or Good evening. But I prefer not to do that, as I don't like to come into contact with too many people.

08:48... The train approached the platform and was about to stop. Before getting on the train, I would like to mention a situation that happens especially in the morning. The train passes two stops until it reaches the platform where I was waiting, so there is very little space to sit. This platform was one of the busiest stops and when the door opened, everyone was like mad calves, jumping on the empty seats to get in and get a seat. I thought it was fun. It was even an honourable act for some of them. I was looking at the faces of those who were sitting; they were looking around with a look that said, How did I sit down faster than you? or with an arrogant stance that said, No one can sit faster than me. Over time, due to this competition for seats, there must have been someone whose fitness graph increased and who started to move faster. Oh, there are also those types; the unbalanced ones who pretend to get up, attract the attention of three or five people around them, but never get up and play with those people... ha, ha, ha...

When the door opened again and again, I found a place where I could put my back to the people who rushed in and got stuck in the doorway. I put my bag on the floor and took out my book. The book I am reading these days is Dostoevsky's stories. I am reading it for the third time. He is my favourite writer and I don't know why, I find him close to me. When I look around me, almost the same people, smells, sounds... and the endless rush. The journey time between the bus stop and my destination was twenty-five minutes. After reading a few pages I was disturbed by people's voices. Everyone was talking to each other. I felt like listening to the conversations. I wondered; what could they be talking about at this time of the morning? My curiosity quickly passed. Most of the conversations were about gossip. Two men on my right were gossiping about someone at work, three students were talking about truancy and a few women were complaining about their husbands. That's the people of my country; they think gossip is something important. As if he has to consume a few thousand words a day, he talks idly. If gossip was banned, I am sure that hundreds of thousands of people would burst like a balloon from boredom.

Then I thought of something else. Almost everyone was busy on their phones. Some were playing games, some were browsing social media, some were watching films. What about books! When I looked around to see if anyone was reading a book, I saw it right on my opposite parallel. A