Enskubók

Every morning, Bran arrives at the Municipal Department of Removal at seven.

He has worked there for thirty years. He knows the rules: arrive on time, follow the list and never ask unnecessary questions.

Sunlight streams through the high windows of the changing room. Twenty brown work jackets hang in a perfect row.

In the changing room, he sits on a wooden bench and takes off his old boots.

Above his locker, someone has left a handwritten note.

YOU WON'T NEED THESE AGAIN.

Bran reads it twice.

Perhaps someone has made a mistake. He has no plans to leave his job.

He folds the note, puts it in his pocket and finishes changing his shoes.

There is work to do.

At nine, Bran arrives at 17 Blackthorn Street.

Nobody answers the door, but the apartment looks as if someone still lives there. The television is on, and two cups of cold coffee stand on the kitchen table.

Bran follows his instructions. He begins to take away the furniture, books and other belongings.

In the bedroom, he opens a wardrobe.

Inside hangs an old brown municipal jacket.

His name is written above the pocket.

Bran examines the left sleeve. There is a small repair that he made himself many years ago.

He recognises the jacket.

But he cannot remember leaving it here.

Bran stops working.

Inside the wardrobe, he finds a wooden box containing an old watch, some letters and several photographs.

He takes a look at one of them.

It shows a family outside a seaside hotel.

The man is Bran, about twenty years younger. Beside him stands a smiling woman. A little girl is holding her hand.

He remembers the hotel. He remembers the wind coming from the sea.

But he doesn't recognise the woman or the child.

On the back of the photograph, someone has written:

EDITH AND LILY — SUMMER 1936.

Bran reads the names again.

He has never had a wife or a daughter.

At least, that is what he believes.

At eleven, Miss Vale arrives in a black government car.

She is Bran's supervisor. She wears a dark blue suit and carries a leather document case.

She looks around the apartment.

"You've done enough, Bran. I'll take over from here."

"There's something strange about this place," Bran says.

Miss Vale doesn't ask what he means.

Instead, she gives him another removal order.

Bran looks at the address.

6 ALDER STREET.

It is the apartment where he lives.

"That must be a mistake."

"No, Mr Bran. Everything is correct."

She asks the other workers to load the remaining boxes into the truck, including the wooden box from the wardrobe.

"Send the wooden box to Alder Street with his belongings," she says.

Bran watches them carry it away.

Bran drives straight to 6 Alder Street.

A municipal truck is already parked outside his building. Two workers are taking furniture from his apartment.

A large troll is carrying a wooden box towards the truck.

Bran recognises it.

"Wait! That box!"

The worker looks at his list.

"It's part of the removal, sir."

Bran grabs the box and takes it back.

For thirty years, he has always followed orders. Today, for the first time, he refuses.

He opens the box.

The family photograph is still there. Under the old watch, he finds a small birthday card.

TO DAD, WITH LOVE, LILY.

Bran sits on the pavement.

He needs to find out what happened to Edith and Lily.

After sunset, Bran returns to the Department.

The building is closed. He knows that entering the records room without permission could cost him his job.

But he has already lost his home. He decides to take a risk.

He unlocks the door and walks between the tall shelves.

Thousands of files contain the names of people whose belongings have been removed.

He searches for his own name.

Finally, he finds a folder.

BRAN — 17 BLACKTHORN STREET.

Inside is a list of three people:

Bran. Edith. Lily.

Below their names is an old order, dated eighteen years earlier.

REMOVE EDITH AND LILY.

The next instruction is even worse.

REMOVE ALL MEMORIES OF THEM FROM BRAN.

Bran understands why he cannot remember his family.

The Department took them away.

And then it made him forget.

There is another document in Bran's file.

It explains what happens when the Department decides to remove a person completely.

First, their belongings disappear. Then their records are destroyed. Finally, the Department removes the person.

Bran turns the page.

The final removal will take place tomorrow, at 17 Blackthorn Street.

He finds a timetable.

9:00 — Remove personal records.

10:00 — Remove employment history.

11:00 — Remove name from city records.

12:00 — Remove the subject.

Below the timetable is a photograph of Bran.

He stares at his own face.

At the bottom of the page, someone has already stamped a single word.

COMPLETED.

Tomorrow has not arrived.

But as far as the Department is concerned, Bran is already gone.

The next morning, Bran returns to 17 Blackthorn Street.

He could have tried to escape the city. Instead, he has come to find out what happened to his family.

The apartment is completely empty. Sunlight falls across the polished floor.

Miss Vale stands beside the window. Outside, the sun is shining and people are going about their ordinary lives.

"Where are Edith and Lily?" Bran asks.

"Their removal was completed many years ago."

"They were my family."

"Yes, Mr Bran."

"And you made me forget them."

"That was part of the order."

Bran looks around the empty room.

"You took everything from me."

Miss Vale opens her leather case.

"Not quite."

Bran looks at her.

"What else is there?"

She takes out one final document.

"There's one thing we haven't taken yet."

"What?"

Miss Vale looks directly at him.

"You, Mr Bran."

Outside, a municipal removal truck waits in the bright sunshine.