Human, . Langelaan [most popular novels of all time TXT] 📗

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It wasn’t fair but it just happened. Hubert's life got thrown over. A stupid illness. That’s why he was sitting in this cafe and thinking about his life. He was just released from the hospital and had to orient his life completely new. Nothing seemed to be as it was as before. Cardiac insufficiency he’s been told. Quite some words. The meaning for this wasn’t in Hubert's dictionary. The only thing he knew was that he couldn’t do things as he used to do. It all happened at the end of November, it already got freezing cold, he build, somewhere deep down in Bavaria, a photovoltaic system to finally do something right to the world ecosystem. And to help the investor to get his bonus payment for that year. All Hubert got from this was a pneumonia. It took a couple of weeks and pills, but then he felt alright again. There seemed to be no complications. In January he had a job in Hamburg. Close to the main station, just two blocks away, easy to get there. Tired he was. And somehow the coffee in Hamburg tasted strange, bitter. At the end of the day, Hubert was completely exhausted old the job wasn’t that hard, and just made it to the train station. Wednesday he decided , on short notice, to see a doctor. This wasn’t normal for Hubert. But after his pneumonia in November he took a bit more care about his health. Two days later, in the hospital, they told him he just went to the doctors at the last second. A day later ... Who knows. Nearly a week he stayed in Hospital and slowly recovered a little. His heart got badly damaged, he’s been told, and not, as he thought, his lungs.

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Hubert was now sitting at home, after he received a letter, which told him he was permanently ill. Gone see yah,bye bye, End Fine. Resigned, he now crawled around the block. Long walks weren't possible anyway, cause of his very low blood pressure and heartbeat. A whole bag with pills was his daily aim, to help him to recover. He tried to keep up a daily routine. On one of his daily tours he arrived quit exhausted in a small café, a block away from where he lived. The coffee still tasted bitter, so he tried it now with a tea. This became his daily route through the urban and as his doctor told him to stay in motion he was delighted to do this and to get out.

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Noon. At three o’clock he crawled to his cafe again. They recognized him sometimes and greeting were passed. After a while he got his place. No, not the best one, in front of the window. This one was occupied by a small group of women. Sometimes he’s been asked about something which was on television. Either he hadn’t seen it or he had forgotten it. What the name was form this blond actor, one question came up one day. »Do you like soccer?« Hubert didn’t like soccer. Not that he was completely against it, no he just didn’t like it. But just for sport reason, he didn’t like the Bavarians. The flag from St Pauli draw more his attention. How could he! Hamburg is HSV, some one shrieked out at him and a laughter followed.

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Jokes were made and some small conversation took place all the time. No, not about the weather. Most of these conversations were about illness, Hubert had no idea how many kind of diseases there were in this world. Do you know how many there are? There where diseases Hubert never heard about. »That was something with horses?« someone asked him two days later. An old lady always came with her car. The car was a bit younger as she was, but still working properly. One day she came enraged into the café. She had to visit the TUV. It was time for the two years inspection of her car. »Oh dear oh dear.« Her little beloved automobile, she had to give it up now. to many points the boys from the TUV wrote down. That gave her nearly a heart attack. »Oh dear oh dear.« The boys didn't had any pity with her, how dare they. Almost the whole afternoon they where swearing, complaining and moaning about the TUV. »Robert Redford,« Hubert said. He remembered the movie again, which he saw on television a couple of days before. »Yes, right, Isn’t he gorgeous?«

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Of course with your health is such a thing. Hubert had found that out as well. Quickly a little thing turns out to a big catastrophe. Hubert had found this out for him self. He was a little worried about one of the old lady's. First he thought she was on holidays, but as that had been more than two weeks, he thought about she presumably went south into the sun. He had heard that a couple stayed the winter in the south, like Spain or so. But as one day she appeared with a walker one of these little trolleys she pushed in front of her, everyone looked surprised. »Not to worry she just had a small stroke« she informed everyone. A couple of days her story was the running gag. She told that she got the stroke just as she was at the hairdresser. Discussion went on now. But most saw it as good luck it happened there and not at her home, where she lives alone. So now she was brought quickly to the hospital and here she was back again. »Are you going to that hairdresser again?« some one asked. »Well,« she said after taking a long break. »It didn’t look that bad what they’ve done.

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One day, the atmosphere at the backer was some how interrupted. One of the lady's, who where sitting at the windows, was missing for quite some time. He hadn’t notice it before, she often wasn’t there and Hubert hadn’t thought about that. But it seemed, she would never returned for the afternoon coffee break. She died a couple of days before, peacefully in her bed. Life continued and soon it would be summer again. Hubert's health made some progress and new faces turned up in the cafe. Hubert, now a days, greeted everyone he met with a smile. It seemed to get easier everyday and made life a little better. Just a simple >Hello< and most people replied it with a smile. The question >how are you?< however, wasn’t the one people wanted to hear. Most of them felt well, but then again, an itchy here and a leg that hurts. No just the >Hello<, was more than enough. A little laughter did the final work. Isn’t it nice to laugh with people around you? Nothing is so beautiful as to laugh with other people, and share their happiness.

Text: A.P.W. Langelaan 2013
Images: Storty HG Mensch Salzburg 2003
Publication Date: 01-17-2013

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Thanks to Ewan Dobson for his inspiring music This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author"s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Dies ist ein Werk der Fiktion. Namen, Charaktere, Orte und Ereignisse entweder sind Produkte der Phantasie des Autors oder sind fiktiv verwendet. Jede Ähnlichkeit mit tatsächlichen Ereignisse oder Schauplätze oder Personen, lebend oder tot, sind rein zufällig. Alle personen, hun namen, hun aantal, hun rol en hun belevenissen zijn geheel ontsproten uit de fantasie van de schrijver en hebben daarom geen gelijknis met werkelijke levende of dode personen. Im Grunde sind es immer die Verbindungen mit Menschen, die dem Leben seinen Wert geben.