By Zary Fekete

At 8:01AM on Saturday, February 1st, a workman pulled his municipal truck over on Fegyvernek street, right in front of number 24, and began digging. He used a pneumatic drill and was already through the top layer of asphalt when the first of the neighbours began to complain.

“What are you doing? Have you a permit?” asked Mrs. Levai, from number 22 next door. Mrs. Barna approached from number 26 on the other side, “What’s this digging?” Soon there was a small crowd, some complaining about the noise and some about the unnecessary clutter. The workman continued to work, hardly glancing up from the deepening hole.

By the time the policeman arrived from up the street fifteen minutes had elapsed. The officer pulled out his citation booklet and laid a hand on the back of the workman. “Here now, sir,” he said. “There’s no work scheduled on this street. What are you doing?”

In the end the policeman issued a citation, and, when the workman still continued his drilling, eventually called in two other officers from the station. It took all three men to get the man away from the drill, and by then the hole was nearly two feet deep. The policemen locked up the workman until it could be decided what to do with him.

That night young Ms. Ilona Megyesi was walking home from the bus stop when a prowler attacked her from the shadows. She fled across the street toward number 22, and as the attacker followed, he stepped into the hole and broke his leg. The police were called and the prowler was taken away.

The next day the workman was released. He could not offer a reason for his knowledge regarding what became known in the neighborhood as “the forecast”. 

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