Refugee in search of a homeland

"Hm, lucky?" "It could have been far worse." "That's true. I had better phone Jürgen Siemering now." "Hello, is that you, Jürgen? Dieter here. I have been involved in an accident here in Oeynhausen É Yes, smashed against the engine of a narrow-gauge trainÉ.. No, I am all right. Just Helga, my friend's girlfriend hurt her right ellbow É No it's not broken, just bandaged. It's just the car. The right door is smashed in and lost it's window. Also the mudguard, and the wheel is a bit crookedÉ. No, I can't drive it. They said it was not safe. It has to be repaired here É Yes, I put it in the yard. I'll phone you again on Monday with the full report on the car."

I walked upstairs to Helga's room. "Well, that's done. I'm amazed that he didn't go mad. He seemed more concerned about my well being than the car. I'll have to phone him again on Monday once I know what they are going to do with the car."

"What are we going to do now?" "I guess we can spend the rest of the day commiserating each other." "I really want to go back to Bremen, but I can't leave you all on your own."

Then she phoned her mum. The evening passed only very slowly. Neither of us had much to say. Next morning I saw Helga to the train.

"See you again in Bremen, before long, I hope!" First thing on Monday morning I went to the car repair garage. They told me that I needed a new door, which they didn't have in stock. It had to be ordered. The chassis was also slightly bent, which they could fix. He wanted me to come back the next day, when he could give me a quote and tell me how long the repairs would take.

I phoned Jürgen and told him. He suggested to stay another night in Oeynhausen and phone him back with the quote and then catch the next train to Bremen.

Another long day in despair, all by myself. On Tuesday I was told that it will take at least two weeks to have the car repaired, and I received a quote for the work to be done. I phoned Siemering and took the next train to Bremen. I walked into the office, feeling very low. The people in the office were very nice to me, though. Of course they wanted to know all the details, how it all happened, and especially all about that young lady?

"She is my friends's girlfriend. I just wanted to give her a lift to Neubeckum."

"Oh, go on. Tell us another story!" No one wanted to believe me. I just had to shrug it off and leave it at that. The car came back after two weeks, but Jürgen decided to sell it and replace it with a new one. I still felt very bad about it, but he was very gracious. He never mentioned it again.

It was fortunate for me that my annual leave came up two weeks after the accident. I had booked myself into a boarding house at a seaside resort

253