HAPPY END  by Haneke

            I can do without.  Yes!... No, I need to know what happens. I am trembling. I have to stay calm... I’m going bananas. I hope this bloody phone rings soon. I can´t cope with this anxiety... It´s not my fault... Or maybe I´m wrong. It’s my self-delusion Puff!  I must be honest with myself... Really, I am in a mess...I am going to the cinema. At least I shall get caught up in the film. I need to stop thinking in circles...

            That damp and cold Dubliner evening, Anya checked the IFI film programme on her mobile.

            The new Haneke film is scheduled. This director has made some very interesting films, but they are too depressing sometimes, I´m not in the mood for sad stuff... “Happy end”, maybe with this title it’ll be good fun...

         Anya went to the Irish Film Institute and she bought her ticket for room 2 where this film was on. She was looking at the phone all the time, just glancing at the calls and what’s apps. The one, which she was expecting, did not appear. She was seated at the back of the room cinema as usual. She was making an effort to follow the story when the mobile started to vibrate. She stood up quickly. She immediately went out of the room in utter darkness. She did not realize she was going through the emergency door. She opened the door. Blackness. She pressed the answer key, just as she slipped on the step.

         Ouch, ouch, ouch!

             She fell headlong down the stairs. She broke her neck on the basement floor. The mobile was also there, on the floor, announcing the best Telecom prices for the New Year.

            Mª José Roig Fabra

            Valencia 27-12-2017