Warmland, wetland, upland E-Book

Richard Villiger

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 390

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

The encounter with Jasmin was to change Renato's life decisively. It marks the beginning of many small episodes in which the author describes events from different points of view. People from different cultures are confronted with sometimes unfamiliar conditions. Be it as lovers, as parents, as employers and employees or as friends. Language barriers must be overcome and different views must be tolerated. No culture is favored, no country is singled out. The author "anonymizes" the countries in his own way: warm country, wet country, mountain country, but also pass country, there is no more concretization. It is left to the reader's imagination whether or which countries or characters he prefers.

Leseprobe

PROLOGUE: Smallfield in Upland, year 1

Renato Kast let the front door fall into the lock and stepped out into the dark. It was just after midnight, and no village politician lived on the stretch of road where he was now standing, which is why the municipality had decided not to provide night-time lighting in this area.

Lost in his thoughts about Katja, he almost fell because he hadn't felt the kerb and had stumbled as a result. He hadn't actually hurt himself, but his right ankle had slipped when he stepped on it and it hurt like hell. "Bloody mess!" he shouted out into the supposed emptiness. But he wasn't the only one walking in the dark.

"Well, sweetie, how about the two of us?" whispered a voice behind him. It belonged to a woman in her mid-forties, blonde or with a blonde wig, plump around the hips and also in terms of bust size. That was just what he needed, he thought. The ability to think clearly had suddenly returned to his skull. "No thanks, not today. It's still ten days until payday, and I'm not as rich as I might look." "Wimp!" she hissed, and it annoyed Renato that some people had such a limited vocabulary.

His eyes had become accustomed to the darkness by now, the pain in his foot had subsided and he moved confidently into the next cross street, got into his old Volvo and drove home.

Home! Could what he would soon be heading for be called a "home"? Didn't a home mean that you were expected there when you had been away? In his bedroom, dirty clothes hung over the back of the chair. In the sink, two pans and all his cutlery were scattered in the stale dishwater, along with glasses and plates. There were six of them, that was all he had.

If you could share the apartment with someone, with Katja for example, it would certainly be easier to keep things more tidy. You could also share the spaghetti with someone. And the daily washing up.

Sharing an apartment with someone! Just a month ago, that hadn't been an option for him.

As he drove to his apartment, he reviewed the previous evening in his mind's eye. He had spent three hours with Katja, a good colleague of many years who came from Paßland. They had philosophized about God and the world, drunk a lot of red wine and eaten a few appetizers.

Renato found Katja very likeable. She had the open and sociable manner typical of the Passlanders. Nevertheless, the spark of infatuation had not yet really caught him. He found himself weighing up the reasons for and against deepening this friendship. One point that sometimes bothered him was Katja's penchant for feminism. On the other hand, he admired independent women and had the confidence to take on such a challenge.

With his thoughts once again on Katja, he hadn't noticed how he was traveling at a significantly higher speed until a lightning bolt brought him abruptly back to reality. "Bloody hell ..." he was just about to swear when he remembered the blonde's flute and instinctively turned his head back to check that he hadn't inadvertently picked up another stowaway. At least he was spared that that night. "The police, your friend and helper? Pah, exploiters and skimmers is what it should actually be called!"

He couldn't forget to call Esther the next morning, his only sister, with whom he had a strong bond since they had both lost their parents in a traffic accident ten years ago. They normally spoke on the phone every week. Last weekend, however, they had missed each other, and Renato had a lot on his mind that he wanted the outside view of an independent but well-meaning person.

Renato had already passed the age of 30. Lately, his thoughts had increasingly turned to a regular partnership. Sometimes he met up with friends from school or the soccer club who had got married. Some had become fathers, like Michael Inglin, with whom he had spent a lot of time since his youth. Michael's son Jonas had become his godchild and Renato realized that he did not always reliably fulfil his godfather duties.

He admired Michael and his wife Ute and was touched by their quiet happiness. They were a good match, here the tall, lanky guy with the ponytail, there the small, slightly stocky and always short-cropped brunette with a face full of freckles.

He felt at home with Ute and Michael. Here he could relax, just be, without having to prove himself to anyone. He increasingly realized that he wanted to build up a little happiness like this. With Katja? Or perhaps with Jasmin? Doubts arose within him.

Tomorrow he would meet Jasmin.

Once in his apartment, he threw his clothes over the back of the chair, squatted on the edge of the bed wearing only his underpants and set the alarm clock. Then he crawled under the covers and hoped that tomorrow would tell him which woman at his side was more likely to bring him a little happiness.

CHAPTER 1: The little happiness

The decision

He woke up with a buzzing head and looked at his left wrist to check the time. Then he remembered that his watch was being repaired. He had dropped it on the stone floor in the restroom of the highway service station yesterday. The glass had shattered and the hour hand had rolled out. Renato couldn't find the hand again. Very strange!

By the feel of it, it must have been around lunchtime. He found the alarm clock on the floor and must have put it down in his sleep. Fortunately, it hadn't been broken in the fall.

A quarter past one! He sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes.

What's better for a grumpy head: beer or coffee? He opted for beer and was lucky, because there was just one last can of Tuborg in the fridge. And really: you have to fight alcohol with alcohol. His spirits returned.

Renato had to reschedule. Jogging was no longer an option. No matter. He had only started jogging anyway because Michael had noticed that Renato was starting to develop a small paunch. Since then, he had been doing his laps from time to time, but he wasn't sad whenever he could think of a halfway plausible reason to skip this unloved jogging.

He put together a shopping list: two crates of beer, some meat products, eggs and bread. And a few vegetables in case any guests with high culinary standards came by. Afterwards, he wanted to go to Michael's and ask Jonas if he fancied a game of pool.

When Renato turned up at Inglins after his shopping, they had flown the coop. "That's fine with me," he thought. This gave him plenty of time to prepare for his meeting with Jasmin. He strolled towards the edge of the forest and picked a bunch of meadow flowers on the embankment without any time pressure. After just under half an hour, he was satisfied with the result and set off in the direction of his apartment.

He wanted to tidy up a bit and then take a full bath.

It was 7:30 p.m. when he left the apartment. Renato had dressed up. He was wearing brand-name jeans, a white shirt and his favorite vest.

Although the pizzeria was only six blocks away, on the opposite side of the village, Renato was planning to drive. He didn't want to arrive sweaty, not today.

He stood there silently for a moment, sucking in the fresh air between his teeth. In the meantime, another three minutes had passed. Nevertheless, he would be there on time, which was not a matter of course for him.

He steered the Volvo into the parking lot behind the pizzeria and sat down on the wooden bench in front of the building, because there were still five minutes to go until the time they had arranged to meet.

Jasmin was unpunctuality personified. He would wait for her here.

When Jasmin still hadn't shown up after fifteen minutes, his impatience got the better of him and he began to pick at his bouquet. Had she forgotten or deliberately moved it? Or was she just running late again? He found it a little unseemly that someone was so late for a date and was slightly miffed that it had happened to him of all people.

Jasmin's voice suddenly reached his ear: "Well, why are you sitting out here? I've been waiting for you inside for half an hour." Renato felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over his head, or the chamber pot. Could there be a bigger idiot than him anywhere in the world at that moment? Hardly. He turned red as a sheet.

"Sorry," he stammered, "I assumed you weren't here yet."

Jasmine was beaming all over her face, which added to her already strong charisma, and whispered: "For once in my life, I didn't want to be late." Renato felt like he was in pieces. It took him a long moment to feel whole again. Then he replied: "Do you still want to eat with me?" She looked him in the eye, quite deeply. Then she whispered: "Yes, of course. Why not?" Renato was relieved and a little confused. He imagined the grotesque situation with the self-inflicted delay with some of his past acquaintances and became convinced that each of them would have made a proper scene for him.

Overwhelmed by a multitude of contradictory feelings, he left the bouquet on the wooden bench.

It was a relaxed evening during which Renato learned a lot about Jasmin's life to date. She was born in Warmland, on the other side of the Big Pond.

Most mountain people had never heard of Warmland. The majority of his compatriots were busy people, somewhat reserved in their emotional life, but correct. They were only marginally interested in what was happening outside the country's borders. Renato, on the other hand, was a citizen of the world and repeatedly amazed Jasmin with his knowledge of her home country.

She was born in the same year as Renato. He had thought she was much younger. Could it have something to do with the fact that she had such a sunny disposition and often laughed? Is that why her friends called her Goldie?

Unintentionally, Renato's thoughts began to make comparisons with his current acquaintances. Both women shared an unmistakable personal charm. In terms of personality, however, they were very different.

Jasmin's appearance alone, with her dark skin color, was very different from Katja's. Far away from the security of her extended family, Jasmin sometimes seemed a little lost, almost a little helpless. Nevertheless, Renato found her extremely likeable. He had grown fond of her in the two years they had known each other.

Renato knew that Warmland had no significant natural resources and was not strategically important for any major power. As a location for investment, this state therefore held little attraction for modern industrial nations. Most of the inhabitants of Warmland made a modest living. Those who wanted to achieve wealth and prestige had to seek their fortune abroad. Therefore, a constant stream of people poured out of Warmland, especially to Wetland, where almost as many Warmlanders now lived as in the motherland itself. A few moved on, mostly for a job or because they had found a life partner somewhere in the wide world.

Jasmin had found a job in a debt collection agency in the village of Kleinfeld. She had a good relationship with her colleagues. However, being cut off from her roots caused her a lot of trouble at times. Only those who knew her well could detect a hint of sadness in her sparkling eyes.

When the evening was quite advanced and the fourth pint of beer had been downed, Jasmin suddenly said to Renato: "You have to know that you live in a very beautiful country here. But sometimes I feel so cold inside that I can hardly stand it. I'll probably move back to Wetland to be with my family."

He had just been enjoying the feeling of light beer bliss when he shuddered. Had he heard right? He had a penchant for tactics in all areas of life. This peculiarity had already cost him good job offers because he had been indecisive for too long. His love life could also have been much more varied if only he had seized his opportunities with determination. Under normal circumstances, he would have driven to his apartment in about two hours and weighed up the pros and cons of Katja and Jasmin. But times were unusual, normality had gone up in smoke.

Renato got up from his chair and walked purposefully around the small table where they were sitting. Like a medieval squire being knighted, he knelt down in front of Jasmin and asked her: "Will you marry me?"

Jasmine looked at him lovingly, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile, and said: "This comes as a bit of a surprise to me. You have to give me a little time to make a decision like this." "How long?" he wanted to know. "I'll call you then. Sleep on it for a night, maybe two. But once I've made the decision, I won't leave you in the dark."

The following night had the peculiarity that two people who normally fall asleep easily were unable to sleep for a long time.

Nails with heads

The morning after next there was clarity. Nothing was the same now. Jasmin really had answered yes. Two seekers had found each other. They set about planning a future together. Renato gave up his apartment and moved in with Jasmin because her apartment was a bit bigger and her household was, well, ... a bit more practical.

It was the end of April, and the wedding celebration was due to take place in the first week of July, a colorful celebration that would be made even more eye-catching by the presence of the dark-skinned guests from Warmland.

There was a lot to plan and think about during this time. Neither Jasmin nor Renato had a lot of money to spare, but they both wanted an unforgettable, varied program of festivities.

A solemn ceremony in a church was just as important as a coach trip into the hilly surroundings. The food was to be provided by a catering company with a good price-performance ratio.

Renato wanted to take care of the drinks himself and Jasmin had good friends who had the right ideas for special occasions and would realize them with great skill. So it should be an unforgettable day even without a lot of money.

The course of time was now comparable to a river that picked up a new branch every day, became more powerful and gained momentum until it would pour into the sea with force on the longed-for day.

Renato would have liked to invite Katja to the party too. But after he had told her he was getting married, she had instantly fallen silent. She had turned away, tears in her eyes. He had wanted to comfort her. That had only made things worse.

Finally, she had run off crying and he sat alone in her apartment for minutes. Finally, he stole outside.

He felt terribly sorry for her. He had always found her open ears when something had particularly bothered him. He had hurt and disappointed her. Would they ever be able to be friends again?

Renato didn't have time to ponder. The decision had been made, he had made it, and there was so much to do.

Nevertheless, there was still one fly in the ointment. He had lacked tact.

To the delight of the bride and groom, all twenty wedding guests who had traveled from Wetland had managed to find suitable accommodation in the surrounding area in time so that they still had a few days to marvel at the sights of Upland after the celebration.

Jasmin and Renato had organized the drinks together and ordered cakes, creams and canapés from friends, which were now stored in the two large fridges in the old barn on the eve of the party. The spacious venue had been festively decorated with flower arrangements and fabric curtains.

Denise, Jasmin's best friend, was mainly responsible for the decorations. Her eyes were red-rimmed because she had worked several night shifts in the last two weeks. The last thing on the agenda tomorrow was to fill light blue and white balloons with gas, some of which would float freely and some of which would be tied to the backs of chairs to give the massive barn a certain lightness.

Esther had managed to negotiate cleverly so that two stately buses, decorated with flowers, were available at a special rate for a two-hour round trip into the mountains.

The party

A wedding party of 90 people gathered in the simple church in the small village of Hillsides on a glorious July day to witness the marriage of Jasmin Dupont and Renato Kast. The fact that the church tower had been completely scaffolded for two days because the natural wood shingles on the roof had to be replaced at this particular time, did nothing to dampen the mood.

Jasmin was keeping a secret. She had known since yesterdaythat she was pregnant. A new little citizen of the world would be attending the celebration unnoticed. She would be the first to tell Renato, but only after he had said yes to her in church. She wanted to keep the news to herself until then.

Renato's nerves were put to the test several times that day.

First of all, Jasmin wanted to live up to her reputation for unpunctuality today and was almost unable to leave her apartment due to inner tension.

And when he arrived at the church, Renato couldn't find his wedding ring. It had been in his trouser pocket and could no longer be found. In the end, the ring turned up in time, next to the driver's seat in Renato's car. Phew, turned out well again!

The ceremony in the church was solemn and extremely personal. The bride and groom had written their wedding vows in each other's native language, somewhat simple in their choice of words, but both had done their best.

After Renato had delivered his text reasonably intelligibly using all his resources and was now wiping the sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief, Jasmin dug out her piece of paper. She managed to stammer out the first sentence, then began to sob and the third sentence got stuck in her throat even after several attempts. Jasmin fell silent and cried.

Despite this mishap, Renato was aware of how much courage his bride had shown in recent weeks. She had, so to speak, jumped on a moving train with an uncertain destination. Renato approached his Jasmin and hugged her tightly. After all, he had urged her to marry him and she had agreed. Brave Jasmin, he was proud of her.

Several wedding guests commented that they had rarely experienced such a touching wedding ceremony. When the back door of the church opened at the end of the service to dismiss the guests, a dazzling ray of sunlight penetrated the building. A good omen, thought Renato.

He had not been able to arrange everything as he had thought necessary in the run-up to the event, but yet everything that was important had worked out so far. The individual cogs had meshed together. "God is with us," he said to Jasmin and kissed her lavishly on the lips.

After the obligatory photo opportunity in front of the scaffolded church tower and the subsequent aperitif, the wedding party boarded the two buses that were waiting in the parking lot in front of the church.

The guests from Wetland were most looking forward to the trip to the mountains. So were Jasmin's sisters and brother, because there were no mountains to speak of in Wetland, so this trip was something very special for them.

Of Jasmin's siblings, Renato had only met the bustling Gloria Vermeer and Louis Dupont, her brother. He now looked attentively at the previously unfamiliar face of Sandy, who was sitting directly opposite him, while the two full buses climbed the first switchbacks at a leisurely pace.

Sandy had a full figure. Renato also noticed that her complexion was lighter than that of Jasmin and Louis. And Sandy looked strangely stiff.

When the bus swerved to take the next hairpin, Sandy's face was about the same color as Renato's. She was now making choking noises, and by the time Renato realized what was happening, it was already too late.

A foul-smelling gush of poorly digested aperitif ingredients poured over the lap of Michael, who was sitting to the right of Renato. He grimaced in disgust and covered his nose with his thumb and forefinger while gesticulating wildly with his other arm. Ute immediately got up and went to the driver, who steered the vehicle to the side of the road and pulled over.

Ute took over the organization of the cleaning, lent a hand herself and distributed smaller cleaning jobs to several fellow travellers, so that the sour smell soon diminished noticeably. Sandy's condition increasingly normalized. Renato had not failed to notice that the unfortunate woman had been subjected to the stern gaze of her sister Gloria for several minutes.

The bus remained stationary for a while. The guests used the time to chat and a few Wetlanders, who had also been joined by Louis, went to the nearby woods to relieve themselves in the great outdoors.

By the time the bus got going again, the acidity of the air had dropped to a tolerable level, and apart from a few stains on Michael's clothes and a recognizably guilty conscience on Sandy's part, things were back to normal.

After the excursion, the wedding party arrived at the old barn.

Denise and Esther had skipped the excursion so that they could take care of the balloons. They had spread them around the room so that the barn looked a bit like a disco.

The catering company had set up tables at the entrance and a rich salad buffet invited the guests to feed their stomachs after their hearts. According to the menu, roast veal, pork and lamb with various side dishes and vegetables were to follow.

As a surprise, friends of Renato had organized a small brass band, which accompanied a party for only the second time, not always with complete stylistic confidence, but with all the more fervour.

Renato liked the fact that very different people met at his party. Most of them were only familiar with the language of their fellow countrymen. So they had to use their hands and feet when talking. Renato was no different. This didn't dampen the mood, on the contrary. The braver of the guests took the stage, while the more timid ones enjoyed themselves quietly or waited for a chance to speak in a smaller circle.

When the musicians took a break, Jonas got up and hurried to the dressing room where he had stowed his saxophone. He also grabbed a music stand and then belted out a few blues rhythms into the large room with his instrument. Renato was amazed at how talented his godson was.

The sounds also had an effect on the guests from Wetland. No sooner had Jonas left the stage to applause, his face beaming with pride, than Louis and three colleagues stood at the front gesticulating with their arms, which led to activity in various places and eventually a guitar, a banjo and an electric bass found their way to the waiting quartet. Louis had an amazing baritone, and that he didn't always hit the notes exactly, he compensated with his charm, and by interrupting his performance in the middle of a song passage and praising the personal merits of his colleagues to the audience when the lyrics escaped him.

Now the spell was finally broken and one performance followed the next.

It was half past two in the morning before the first guests decided to make their way home. Most of the little ones had fallen asleep in the meantime. So the ranks of the guests thinned out.

Denise had already started to collect the used crockery and dispose of torn pieces of decoration. Jasmin and Renato occasionally took to the dance floor, although Michael had assured them that they would never win even a consolation prize in this discipline if the opinion of a connoisseur was the deciding factor.

Renato heard his friend's words and didn't care. He enjoyed having so many great people around him. It was the courage to take risks that counted. Just like Renato's dancing skills. He was a miserable dancer. Did that matter?

As the twilight of dawn began to replace the darkness of night, the party was over. Only the closest friends and family members had held out.

The task now was to remove the worst traces of the party, which had been left behind by the boisterous revelry.

Jasmin could barely stand upright and Renato was also constantly yawning. Nevertheless, they couldn't let themselves go now and had to hold out for another two and a half hours. The party had only been able to take place in this form because their best friends had worked tirelessly and sacrificed all their free time.

Specifically, it was now time to clear the cutlery, plates and bowls, fill, run and empty the dishwasher, pop and dispose of the remaining balloons, dispose of napkins and leftover food, clean the tables and plastic chairs, mop and damp the floor.

Once they had done this together, the bride and groom had Denise drive them home. She was still full of energy and chatting away like a book.

Denise had attended the party without a partner. She had married very young, but her marriage had not lasted long. Now she was a single mother of three girls. Above all, she had made a great party possible for her friends and felt pretty lonely herself.

When they arrived home, Jasmin and Renato took it in turns to take a quick shower and then fell into the blankets, dead tired. They were happy and relieved, but no longer able to do what is commonly known as "consummating the marriage".

The next morning felt fantastic. There were no commitments on the agenda. In three days' time, they were going to set off on a ten-day trip to the neighboring country to the south. Renato and Jasmin had slept tightly together. At some point in the morning, he had heard her groan: "Blimey, my arm!", and he had silently noticed her massaging her left arm, which she had trapped under his neck. Soon, all that could be heard from her direction was a sleeping sound that was vaguely reminiscent of a cat purring.

They had never had the opportunity to lie in bed together during the days before. Today was different. Jasmin, who had woken up earlier, had brought a tray from the kitchen with coffee, orange juice, bread rolls and jam. After Renato had only been able to express his surprise with incredulous amazement for a moment, they ate a little something together and decided to enjoy each other in bed afterwards.

Renato pulled Jasmin close to him and kissed her tenderly on the neck several times.

Jasmin's cell phone rang. It was Gloria on the line. Jasmin was aware that putting her sister off until later would be an insult to her majesty. And Renato knew by now that these conversations lasted at least one hour. So he wriggled out of the sheets, threw on his bathrobe and shuffled to the letterbox to get the newspaper.

When two people go on a journey, ...

Renato checked his luggage for the third time. He wanted to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Two traintickets for the journey to the border, two train tickets for traveling around the vacation destination, passport, cash and checks, plus the suitcase with the clothes and the small rucksack for the provisions on excursions - everything was fine!

Jasmin had the appropriate equipment for female travelers, without a rucksack, but with a small breast pocket for her documents and valuables.

Michael had insisted on driving the newlyweds to the city, where they were to board an overnight train with a dining car. They planned to have a leisurely meal on the train first, then snuggle up in their couches for the night and, after a few hours' sleep, decide where they would get off for the first time and embark on their first vacation adventure together.

Michael found a parking space straight away and accompanied his friends to the platform. They arrived on time, but the train was half an hour late. This gave Michael the opportunity to give some practical vacation tips. Then he strolled back to his car.

Renato helped Jasmin to get in. His stomach growled. He had deliberately skipped his last meal so that he could enjoy the upcoming meal to the full. This was not Jasmin's style, as eating was one of her favorite pastimes.

As they had been engrossed in conversation with Michael while waiting, neither of them had paid attention to which carriage the dining car was in. Jasmin therefore asked a fellow passenger, who became furious at the question. "There was a train collision. They had to organize a replacement train. And it doesn't have a dining car. Great, isn't it? I love it when my vacations start like this, and who knows what else will happen."

This statement also caused Renato's mood to plummet. But first he had to close his mouth again, because his jaw had dropped.

Luckily, Michael had given them a bottle of red wine to say goodbye, and Jasmin had brought some salad left over from their last meal.

Afterwards, they snuggled into their loungers as planned. But it was definitely not the start to the vacation that Renato had dreamed of.

Renato didn't get much rest that night. Jasmin and he had fallen asleep back to back, as they liked to do. However, Renato kept waking up, first with acid regurgitation because he had had a little too much wine, then with a slight backache, then because of a combination of both. Eventually he sat upright, and when Jasmin woke up cheerfully, it was still an hour and a half before the train arrived at the main station in the metropolis where they wanted to get off.

Then it was done! At last, something was working again. It felt good to drink a strong espresso in a café and then eat a good amount of bread rolls topped with cheese and salami.

Outside, the sun was shining, and Renato looked through the half-open window over a park with hibiscus bushes and fan palms as tall as a house, in the crowns of which a flock of loudly screaming birds was frolicking.

A young local man with a weather-beaten face and gel hair sat on a bench, dressed in expensive fabric. Next to him stood a woman, also young and elegantly dressed, gesticulating with both arms.

Renato tried to catch something of the conversation, but only realized that the two of them were using their body language in a targeted manner. He also saw a greasy white load detach itself from the flock of birds and fall onto one shoulder of the park visitor's expensive suit.

He was glad to be inside and ordered more rolls and coffee.

Jasmin had been busy eating until now. She now followed Renato's gaze at the scenery outside and suddenly bit into nothing, because she made an exciting discovery.

"Look, the kids!" A group of adolescent kids had engaged the young couple in conversation in the park, while other children crept forward unnoticed from the back of the bench.

Unexpectedly, a cab driver approached at high speed, slammed on the brakes with a loud screech and rolled down the driver's side window. He cursed loudly, which startled the crowd of children, who quickly scampered off into the surrounding alleys.

"Seems to have gone well again. That should also serve as a warning to us to keep our eyes open at all times."

Jasmin's gaze was directed into the distance, towards nothing in particular, and Renato could almost hear her brain working at full speed.

The city had a lot to offer. The newlyweds had booked a cheap hotel suite in the city center for four days.

They stayed up late in the morning before heading to the lavish breakfast buffet.

Afterwards, they went to a museum, cinema or concert, and once they paid a visit to the city palace, including the spacious gardens, which also attracted many other lovers.

In the evening, they chose a restaurant close to the city center, where they feasted until they reached their hotel complex at nightfall, a little buzzed and happy, and then retired to their suite to enjoy a little more togetherness.

Jasmin could have spent her entire vacation like this, but on the morning of the fourth day Renato said he wanted to get to know more of the country and its people. So in the early afternoon they strolled through the market square in the oppressive heat - Jasmin sulking slightly - and to the bank where Renato wanted to change checks into money to pay the hotel bill. It worked at the fourth bank and after three kilometers of walking, but it worked, even if the lightness of being was gone and Jasmin had a blister on the sole of her left foot.

Because she didn't trust the hotel chambermaid, Jasmin had put all her valuables and documents in her breast pocket, which was secured with a buckle.

Renato had put his arm around her shoulder and they slowly approached the marketplace again. Jasmin's stomach growled and Renato's thoughts also turned to the next meal.

Then they both noticed an inconspicuous woman waving her arms violently in front of them and uttering unintelligible words. Only now did Renato notice that the buckle of Jasmin's breast pocket was open. Jasmin also suddenly became aware of this fact. Her mouth was open, but she couldn't make a sound.

For a moment, time stood still, the surroundings no longer existed.

It wasn't like a moment of happiness, where warmth slowly flows through the body. No, it was completely different.

It was like slowly waking up from a faint, with a disorientation that begins with the question of whether the body is horizontal or vertical.

Once this question could be answered with reasonable certainty, the noises slowly returned.

Jasmin was still standing there motionless, shocked, and Renato took her in his arms for a long moment. She had been holding her breath and now let out a deep sigh.

Then she vehemently released her grip, tore the breast pocket from her neck and checked its contents.

Empty, of course! Money gone, tickets gone, bank card, passport ...

She stared blankly at a spot two meters in front of her on the asphalt.

The noises stopped again. Then she said, slowly, in a calm voice: "I want to go home. Now!"

... part two of the journey

Renato woke up sweating from a ridiculous but frightening dream.

A little boy with greasy hair was about to cut off his penis with a rusty knife.

He was shocked to realize that he was standing in the middle of the market square without his pants and that all the passers-by were looking at him ... Luckily it was just a dream!

"Are you all right?" asked a voice from the bathroom next door.

It took him a while to remember where he was. In Upland, in Ute's Uncle Walter's vacation apartment, where they were spending the rest of their days off after they'd broken off their vacation abroad head over heels.

They had had to sit around for hours at the police station for a report, with no prospect of compensation for their losses. Then they had marched off again to change checks again.

But now they were back in control of their lives. Their home was located away from the traffic on a small slope at the edge of a pine forest.

My God, if they didn't have Ute and Michael!

Jasmin's question came back to him. "Yes, I think so. Why do you ask?" "You were shouting. Quite loudly!"

The patience thing

He was waiting in the entrance area of the discount store.

After their first vacation together, they both went back to work, Jasmin in the office, Renato on the building site.

And one working week was already done. Saturday morning, fill the fridge!

They had paid at the till. Then Jasmin went back again because she had forgotten something.

Renato was standing there with the bulging shopping cart, but he preferred to forego the accompaniment rather than squeeze through the crowd a second time.

After a while, he pushed the car into the parking garage and stowed the shopping in the car.

Once again he stood there, next to the toilets, waiting, and had to step aside from time to time so as not to get in the way of the other customers.

So far he had wasted little time shopping, but he loved Jasmin and she loved having him around.

What he didn't like was her indecisiveness, weighing up whether to buy something or not, but in the end she did. Or not, but something similar. He didn't want to criticize her for that.

Renato simply couldn't understand how someone could spend so much time doing trivial things when there were only a limited number of hours in the day.

This time would be lost during the day.

Jasmin would later explain that shopping was something exciting in her life and gave her the opportunity to socialize.

And so Renato stood and waited.

At some point she came back, a beaming smile on her face, pushing another bulging shopping cart in front of her.

Gray everyday life

Mid-November. The day began with drizzle. A light mist shrouded the landscape and gave the impression that the land was a sparsely populated plain.

Jasmin didn't have to go to work today. Renato had overslept. As he was now following her louder alarm clock, he had missed his own ringing.

The delay was not serious. With an increase in speed and a bit of luck, it should be possible to make up the lost time.

Nevertheless, it dampened his mood to have to down his coffee in a hurry and complete his morning routines in fast motion.

On top of that, his company had assigned him to erect a metal façade in a rush this week, and the fast pace of work was already fraying the nerves of some employees. Now the weather was also making capers, and in this situation he would only make slow progress with his Volvo and might not make it in time despite all his efforts.

He quickly said goodbye to Jasmin, gave her a volatile kiss on the forehead and hurried out of the door. The Volvo started right up, good old car!

Renato concentrated fully on the slow-moving traffic. The later you were on the road, the slower you made progress.

His boss would snap at him. He should. Then he would just quit his job. Don't be childish, he called himself to order and relaxed a little. What was wrong with him? Where had the composure gone that normally characterized him?

When he arrived at the construction site, his colleagues had already placed the work materials on the scaffolding. They had finished the inner aluminum cladding yesterday. Today, the insulation had to be glued on so that the outer cladding could then be screwed on.

The working scaffold consisted of several upright metal struts on which three layers of formwork panels were placed at two-meter intervals. A worker was assigned to each working height and had a pot of contact adhesive, a coarse brush and a stack of fiberglass insulation boards.

Mr. Geißdörfer, the dispatcher, immediately sought eye contact with the approaching Renato, his brows slightly furrowed. Before he could say anything, Renato rumbled off: "Just don't say anything now or I'll leave!" "It's all right, we all have a bad day sometimes. It would just be nice to start the day with a greeting." "Sorry Hans, I know my responsibilities, I just want to start work now. Have a nice day too!" "Well, Renato. You know how it runs. You're working at the top today. The materials are ready for you." Hans turned away and made a few notes by the materials container. Renato was grateful that he had reacted so confidently to his comments. "I need to get a grip on myself," he realized. It wasn't other people's fault that he was so late.

Renato took his work shoes out of the container and tied a double knot with the pins. Better safe than sorry. Then he clambered onto the scaffolding. Right at the top, of course. Whoever comes last can no longer vote.

He put an insulating board to hand and placed the bucket of glue next to him.

He was on the right-hand edge of the scaffolding and had to work his way to the left. The inner boarding consisted of elements 50 cm wide, which ended with a protruding slat. They were screwed on top of each other. He first had to glue on the bottom layer of insulation, 25 panels, each one meter long. After that came three more layers, so that he would have glued exactly 100 panels by the evening. That was easily to do in one working day.

He had to work sitting down for the bottom layer. And he was already starting to get annoyed again. Because the formwork panels were completely wet. The fog had lifted a little, but the moisture was omnipresent. Damn, what a nag you are. It's unbearable with you, he said quietly to himself and was glad that he could do his work alone today. He really wouldn't be a good conversation partner at the moment.

Then he took the lid off the bucket and a strong wave of solvent sloshed towards him. He took a deep breath and immediately felt a little intoxicated.

Renato dipped the brush into the adhesive and coated the aluminum element. He then placed the fiberglass panel on the coated area and pressed it into place. He fetched the bucket and a new panel and sat down on the wet board a meter to the left to glue the next panel. Bit by bit he found his working rhythm. His mood brightened and he felt at one with himself again.

By the lunch break, he had completed half of his daily workload. He enjoyed his sandwich and beer and joined in the trivial conversations with his colleagues, including Eugen, who was working directly below him on the construction site today and whom he didn't particularly like. He thought Eugen was a braggart and a chatterbox.

All too soon the lunch break was over and it was back to work. Renato worked mechanically, without really keeping his head in the game. Then he suddenly realized that Eugen was below him about four meters to the left. He looked at his wristwatch, which had been repaired in the meantime, and realized that he would be off work in three quarters of an hour. He was way behind schedule.

Renato spurred himself on and increased the pace of his work. He managed to catch up centimeter by centimeter, and when Eugen had glued the last panel at the end of his work, Renato still had a single panel to put in place. He dug the brush deep into the glue and took a swing to apply the glue to the element when a light gust of wind loosened the glue from the brush and sent it downwards, right onto Eugen's mop of hair.

Renato's pulse stopped for a beat, then he heard from below, "You fucking asshole! You did that on purpose!" And Eugen's head appeared on Renato's mound with a look of rage. The blond mop of hair was dripping gold from the glue.

In this situation, the only option was to flee, Renato thought, and he ran to the opposite end of the scaffolding. He climbed down as fast as his legs would carry him. He scurried around the corner and wanted to see what would happen next.

From a distance, he heard Eugen swearing, then an engine roared and he saw Eugen's vehicle and its owner speeding away.

Renato climbed onto the scaffolding again, glued his last panel and tidied up his work area. Afterwards, he also collected Eugen's materials. He quietly said goodbye to his colleagues and drove home.

Jasmin had enjoyed the day off. She had slept in, read a bit in a magazine and had a long phone call with Gloria. Then she ate a snack and had coffee with her elderly neighbor.

Yesterday was her last day at work before her maternity leave. In two months, the time had come. She would give birth to a child, be a mother and take on a new role.

Renato and she would become parents. How would he do as a father?

She had no doubt that he would be a good father, as she had watched him with Jonas. Renato had a very good relationship with his godson, and Jonas also felt comfortable in Renato's presence.

Renato had welcomed the pregnancy with great enthusiasm. He longed for the child with all his heart.

That was the good side of the story. What was less nice was that her relationship with her husband had changed recently.

He was like a brother to her at the moment, familiar but also distant. He hadn't slept with her for a long time and the caresses she had enjoyed so much often failed to materialize.

It had been these attentions that had comforted her in the absence of her family. They had eased her homesickness. And now she was feeling the lack of warmth again, just when she was about to give birth to a child. And she wanted to be a good mother.

That evening, Renato came home later than usual.

He had started puffing again after a long time of not smoking. Usually he smoked two cigarettes at the edge of the small waterfall on his way home. The sound of the water calmed him down. Here he would take deep breaths and mentally disconnect from the world of work. When he got back into the car, his thoughts were with his family, with Jasmin and the child in her womb.

Today, however, it took him longer to come to terms with the darn working day.

When Renato finally turned up at home, Jasmin had already finished cooking. She had made a nutritious stew with mashed potatoes, various vegetables and chunks of meat. He ate in silence and felt her eyes on him. But he didn't want to talk to her about his working day yet, he wanted to sort things out with Eugen himself first. Jasmin had long since realized that something was wrong, and Renato was aware of this fact.

"I'll tell you later," he said after a while so that she wouldn't fix her eyes on him any longer.

Afterwards he went outside, into the small front garden, and smoked. Smoked everything that was left in the cigarette packet.