Now the time had finally come. Almost all the good friends had left the village long ago: the acquaintances from the theater group of the first hour, Joseph with his Silesian family and Hilde from Berlin.
Aunt Else had married a late returnee and had moved with her husband to the nearby small town, which was world-famous for its rose cultivation and bicycle production. Only Änne and her children still lived in the house. It would be a hard parting for my sister and me.
We had become accustomed to the dreary country life over the many years and knew all the people in the village. It would be exceedingly difficult for me to say goodbye to the high school. I liked my classmates and the teachers, too.
The school had become my second home. And not to forget: Hans and our cottage. In the many years of small and big adventures together, we felt not like friends, but like brothers. Whether we would ever see each other again was uncertain, which made me sad.
There was still Susi, our foxhound. For me it was clear that we should take her with us to the city, but mother was strictly against it: ‘The dog stays here, no arguments! Take care of a new home for the animal!’ No whining and clamoring helped, that was an order. After a long search, the village blacksmith was willing to keep my Susi. The blacksmith was a good man, I trusted him.
Long before the move, I brought the dog to her new family, so that she could get used to the foreign environment. But Susi always escaped and ran to her familiar pack. How many times I brought the distraught animal back to the blacksmith, I don’t know. Finally, the dog had to be chained and was only allowed to run free at night. After a few weeks, the clever Susi had understood.
She was allowed to run around freely during the day again. From time to time she visited us, licked our hands, rolled around on the floor with her legs bent and her tail between her legs. Sometimes she peed a little with joy. As unexpectedly as Susi appeared, so quickly she disappeared again and ran back to the forge alone. Finally, the naturalization was successful. I could leave the dog in the village with a clear conscience – or so I thought.
With the note ‘Transferred to class 11a – keep it up!’ the summer vacations began for me. I knew that I would not see any of my classmates again in the future 11a, not even my teachers. The move to the city was a done deal. Talking about it would only have made it harder to say goodbye.
That’s why I kept quiet. Rosi didn’t find out anything either, although she sought my proximity again. At home, Mother could hardly wait for the move. But I had a fun time. I no longer had to worry about the firewood and the winter food. I gave Änne’s eldest the two breeding females and handed over my two-wheeled wooden cart and the necessary tools to him with good advice. 𝓣𝓸 𝓑𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓭…
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