<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">As I crossed the bridge, a hairy hand came out. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">"Stop, pay troll." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">I gave him 5 euros. He put it not in his purse but in a jar. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">"It's for the poor. They are very hungry," he said. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">"This week Africa. Maybe next week your country."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class=""> He scratched. "When you get to the other side of the bridge, you get it back." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class="">I looked, saw no one giving back. He saw me looking. <br class=""><br class="">"Not THIS bridge," he said.</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Birrell Walsh</span></p></body></html>