Sacrifice by Karin Alvtegen Read Free Book Online Page A

rang Thomas. He answered right away, even though he was in a meeting and really couldn’t talk. And afterwards her motivation to ‘understand people’s basic needs’ was even less.
    She already knew all about it.
    Â Â Â Â 
    â€˜Well, now you know who I am, so it’s time for all of us to find out who you are. Your names are on your name tags, so you can skip that part. But the rest of us have no idea what you do.’
    Twenty-three newly arrived participants sat in a circle and listened intently to the woman standing in the centre. She was the only one who seemed comfortable in this situation; those seated looked around the circle rather self-consciously. Monika was struck by how obvious it was. Twenty-three grown people, all in leadership positions, several wearing suits, had suddenly been hauled out of their comfort zones and were bereft of any kind of control. As if by magic, twenty-three scared kids now sat there instead. She felt it herself; the discomfort crept through her body, and not even the thought of Thomas made her plight feel more bearable.
    â€˜With regard to the course content for this afternoon, I have a proposal and a request about what I’d like you to tell us about yourselves, so I thought I’d start with a little exercise.’
    Monika met Åse’s glance and they exchanged a brief smile. Åse had told her in the car that she had never been to a ‘personal development’ course before and that she was a bit sceptical. It was the session about how to handle stress that had appealed to her.
    The woman in the centre continued: ‘To start with, I’d like you all to close your eyes.’
    The participants glanced uncertainly at each other, mutely wondering what this was about before they retreated one by one into darkness. Monika felt even more vulnerable now, as if she were sitting naked on her chair and no longer knew whose eyes to hide from. The leg of a chair scraped on the floor. She was sorry that she had let herself be talked into coming.
    â€˜I’m going to say six words. I want you to pay attention to your thoughts and above all notice thefirst specific memory that comes to mind when you hear them.’
    Someone coughed to Monika’s left. Only a faint whirring from the air conditioning broke the silence.
    â€˜Are you ready? Then we’ll begin.’
    Monika shifted position on her chair.
    The woman paused at length between the words to give them time to sink in.
    â€˜Fear … Sorrow … Anger … Jealousy … Love … Shame …’
    A long silence followed, and Monika was all too conscious of both her thoughts and the specific memory they had evoked. Six thoughts, straight as an arrow, which mercilessly forced her towards the precise memory she wanted to forget most of all. She opened her eyes to break the spell.
    The urge to get up and leave was overwhelming.
    Most of the people around her remained sitting with their eyes closed; only a few had fled from the experience behind their eyelids. Now their shameful gazes met, only to rush on in a desperate search for a way out.
    â€˜Are you ready? Then open your eyes.’
    Their eyes opened and bodies shifted. Some were smiling and others looked as though they were reflecting on their thoughts.
    â€˜Did it go well?’
    Many nodded while others looked more doubtful. Monika sat quite still. She did not reveal with any expression what she was feeling. The woman in the centre smiled.
    â€˜It’s been said that these six feelings are universal and that they’re found in every culture on earth.Since we’re going to talk about people’s basic needs in the next exercise, it would be rather stupid not to make use of our expertise. I think that what you were thinking of just now when we did this was the event, or at least one of the few events, that has been most crucial in your lives and that has influenced you most.’
    Monika clenched