The Deporter

 
   I had just come back from the country, where I'd been visiting my sister, when my wife and I decided to go to the Vanemuise theater that evening. When I was standing in the ticket queue at 4:30, the chairman of our factory labor union came by and told me to go to a union meeting at five o'clock in the Workers' House. I went there hoping that the meeting would end in time for me to get to the theater performance.

     The Workers' House big hall was filled to capacity. The Tartu Cultural Center director was presenting a lecture about the horrid conditions in other countries. I decided to leave the meeting along with some of my colleagues, since I wanted to get to the theater on time. Upon leaving the hall, we discovered that the House doors had been locked, and were being guarded, so that no one could leave. It was evident that no one would be able to get out of the house, no matter what their reason for wanting to leave.