Litz went out of the plane very upset. Not because of the airline, though. She felt her nerves coming up, but luckily anticipated her panic attack. A quick call to her friend with the excuse of looking for the way to go and she calmed down. A few train connections, the flash view of Cologne from the S-Bahn’s window (while a guy asked directions in Italian to a German girl, who replied in a rusty but friendly Italian) and she was in the little, not so little, Gelsenkirchen.
With its 260k inhabitants, Gelsenkirchen was classified as a big city, indeed. Her friend Marisol arrived by bike to bring her home. They walked together along the main street, full of shops, restaurants and bars. Marisol had just bought her first home with her boyfriend. He was not there often, though, as he used to work out of region. Litz noticed the real plants at first sight. They gave that positive green look which made home sweet. Being passionate about it, Litz gave Marisol some advice on how to maximize her decorations’ potential.
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was surprisingly shining in the kitchen, orientated westward. Litz chose that room to relax, instead of diving on the sofa next to her friend. She knew that too much comfort leads to laziness. She loved to indulge in the best of comforts, but only in specific moments of her day or, more generally, of her life.
In the evening, they took a train to reach a close city, where some friends of hers had organized a little party at an independent club having a clear political view. One of the guys was a refugee and Litz, curious by nature, listened to him carefully. They were drinking a nice local beer called Hansa for the ridiculous price of 1.20 euros. “How can they be sustainable?” Litz thought. “Probably they used to have lots of subscribers” she replied to herself while exploring the advertisements about their events on the walls. A guy came to collect the glass, so Litz hurried up, finished her beer, and interrupted her extravagant thoughts.
Sometimes her mind went to a different place. She knew it. She was trying to deal with it at her best. She went to the toilet and looked at herself in the mirror. She had lost just as much weight as she wanted, and she was happier. There was no pink lipstick this time on her mouth and she missed it. However, she did not want to attract too much attention on herself at her present state of mind. She smiled at her beautiful reflection, then went back to the party with it. The club was cool, but the best moment of the night was eating Turkish kebab on the street. Litz noticed three girls passing by, two of them wearing colourful hijabs. She realized she had never worn one.
Before leaving Gelsenkirchen, Marisol absolutely wanted Litz to stop at the famous Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Center, located in the closeby city of Essen. Litz was glad her friend brought her there. The complex was monumental. There was a cool contemporary art exhibition in progress and the two girls had a good time looking at the paintings and talking with the artists. Marisol even found a possible painting for her bedroom, showing a relaxing view of the sea.
– Could you take a picture of me?
Litz asked Marisol.
Marisol adjusted her mobile and Litz said, just in time:
– Get the Moon, please!
