Kosta woke up and stretched. What day is it? Tuesday? No matter. They are all pretty much the same these days. He went over to the camp stove and put water on to boil. When he had succeeded in creating a halfway passable pot of coffee, he carried two cups full outside. It was overcast again.

He went over to the bulldozer and handed one of the cups to the man inside. “Good morning, Boris.”

“Mornin’, Kosta. Thanks. Sleep well?”

“Better than you, I’d imagine. I keep telling you you’re welcome in the house whenever you want.”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be proper. They’d probably ball me out at the planning office. I’m not even supposed to talk to you.”

“That doesn’t seem very neighborly.”

“Well, technically, we’re not neighbors. You’re squatting in an old building that I’m trying to tear down.”

“True, but think of the overtime you’re getting, Boris! I’m helping to stimulate the economy!”

“Actually, Kosta, you’ve brought the economy around your little building here to its knees. You’re keeping construction crews from putting up the new shopping mall that’s to go here. You’re keeping the employees that will work in the eventual shopping mall from having jobs to go to. In fact, you’re really gumming up the works. The mayor is livid. You can expect another visit from him this afternoon.”

“But, Boris, we’ve been over this. This building is a part of our history. Doesn’t the history of your city mean anything to you?”

“All I know is that if it were actually history, I wouldn’t have to freeze my ass off in this bulldozer anymore. To be perfectly honest, I’m coming around to the mayor’s point of view. I’d like to tear it down and go home.”

“I’d like to go home too, Boris, but some things are more important.”

“It’s just a crummy old building. It’s practically falling apart as it is. No one has the money to fix it up. It’s just easier to tear it down. Why don’t you just go home?”

“Never! I will never leave so long as you are trying to take away our history! We need to protect it for the next generations…”

“Can the speech, Kosta. Save it for the mayor. It’s not up to me.”

“But it is, Boris! It’s up to all of us!”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say.”

“We’ll continue this later. Right now, I need to get ready for the mayor.” Kosta strode away.

Boris sighed. He liked Kosta, but he liked his job more. “He just doesn’t understand what’s at stake here.” Absentmindedly, he leaned down to pick up a pebble. He considered it for a moment then he flicked it at the building. The pebble made a pinging sound as it landed on the roof.

A millisecond later, the whole building collapsed. Kosta and Boris considered each other through a thick cloud of dust and then they both started laughing.