The rainbow never sets

guck there when smoking. It makes me really sick and I don't want to ever smoke again. So please don't offer me any more of your cigarettes."

And that was it. From that day I never touched another cigarette again. Christmas was approaching and I badly wanted to visit my parents. I asked for a couple of weeks off, and Herr Hoffmeister was happy to give them to me, "There is not much to do here on the farm in winter anyway. You just go and visit your parents."

Kerstlingerode was only about 3 km from Bischofshausen, the last village before the East German border. From there it was only 2 km to East Germany. We had heard a lot about people crossing the border there, so I decided to try it for myself.

They said it was better to cross at night. I waited until about 5 pm before walking to the border. I carried only a rucksack with a few Christmas presents and my personal things. About 6 pm I arrived at the border and by then it was pitch dark. How would I find my way? I had to keep due south, I was told, but I didn't have a compass. Luckily the stars were out to guide me. The first village in the eastern zone was called Siemerode, and I was to head for Heiligenstadt, another 6 km after that, and catch the train from there. There was no river to cross, and it was difficult to know where the actual border was supposed to be. I just kept walking across an open field. Suddenly I heard some voices. I threw myself down on the ground and listened, my heart pounding.

I heard the voices again, but they seemed to be whispering. They could not have been guards. It turned out that they were a group of people also trying to cross the border.

I joined them, about eight or ten women and men, quietly walking towards Siemerode. We could see already a light in the distance.

"That must be the village," I thought. There were more voices. I couldn't see a thing, but those voices came closer and closer. Our group scattered and all threw themselves flat on the ground.

"Here, come here Tieras!" I could distinguish a commanding male voice giving orders to a dog. My heart sank. With a tracker dog, we had no chance of escape. There was a short bark.

"Get up you filthy swine, and you too!" In no time the dog had rounded us all up with the man following him. He swore at us and commanded us to walk ahead towards the light in the distance. We still couldn't see the ground. It must be someone from the police, I thought. Who else would be ordering us around like that? It crossed my mind to make a dash for it, but then I changed my mind. There was no point with the dog behind us. We made our way, stumbling every now and then over the dark, uneven surface of the ground. Eventually we arrived at the village. There were only two or three lights.

"In here, all of you!" We were pushed into a barely lit room which must have been in a school. When we were all inside, the door was slammed shut and we

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