Dirk Lützelberger - Secret doors

Gwen and Stefan went to the travel agency of their choice after work to get extensive advice and finally book. The decision was made quickly. The Austrian Alps were already set by Gwen’s ideas and the desire to hike and relax could also be realized there very well. They booked a beautiful wooden cottage in a small holiday resort, which invited to ski in winter and to go hiking in summer. Around the holiday resort there were enough possibilities to explore the mountains and the Altausser lake was just perfect for cycling.

Gwen was comfortable with her decision and the days were numbered before they could leave. It would only be two more weeks to work. Her boss at the LKA had looked a bit critical for a moment when she approached him with the wish to take vacation near-term, but since he had noticed in the last weeks how much Gwen was backed down, he knew that this would be a necessary step to get back the old Gwen, the happy Gwen. Also, the relationship with Stefan had not remained hidden from him and so he was not surprised when a short time later Stefan came to him with the same wish and applied for leave just as quickly.

Back home, both of them settled into Gwen’s living room to toast their holiday plans. Phil returned home a little later and joined the two of them, who immediately reported the news and described the holiday destination. Phil was thrilled and immediately pulled out his cell phone to google the place. He liked what he saw very much, and he also looked at the geocaches that would be hidden at that location. Then he smirked.

"If I would find even one single geocache, I would have one country point for Austria in my statistics! So Benoît has to prepare himself for the worst, if he wants to catch up with me. I would have found the southernmost cache right away, because Benoît had only been in Munich so far and had successfully searched for geocaches there. I have to text him right away." Phil kept babbling to himself as he disappeared into his room on the second floor. Gwen and Stefan just looked at each other speechless and smiled.

"I think we’ve hit the jackpot" said Gwen.

"Yes, I’m happy if Phil is happy there too, but this is primarily about you. So, you can relax and unwind."

"As always, you’re right."

"What is it with these geocaches?" Stefan wondered.

"This started a few years ago. It was the best way to get kids out of the house, if you ask me." She winked at him. "The geocaches are listed in a huge database on the Internet. The exact location is given by GPS coordinates and many of the caches also tell a story or hold secrets. So, a Sunday stroll becomes an interesting undertaking. One looks for a way where the son tries to find his geocaches to get points in the mentioned statistics, and he is motivated to come out into the fresh air. Of course, he has to take his mobile phone with him and stares at it all the time to find the right way to the cache. You can’t expect him to be more communicative, but at least he gets comes out of his room and doesn’t always stick to his computer."

"I understand. And through statistics he compares himself to his friends?"

"Right. At least that’s how I understood it. That’s why he’s so eager to find the southernmost, northernmost, westernmost or easternmost cache. It also keeps track of when he found the most caches in a day, how many different countries he found them in, and how difficult they were." Gwen thought about it, then she went on. "Once he was trying to find an extremely difficult geocache. It was called, 'You can see me!' That should have been warning enough, because when we arrived at the listed location, we were standing in front of a several hundred-year-old oak tree. At a height of at least ten yards you could see a box that was attached to a crotch. Since we were neither equipped with a ladder nor with a climbing harness, Phil wanted to climb the tree just like that. I’m sure you can imagine the discussion that caused."

Stefan nodded understandingly. "I can imagine that very well. Let’s see what caches he wants to visit this time and how dangerous it will be. Don’t worry, I’ll support you in your discussions."

♦♦♦

The last two weeks flew by and finally the big day was there to start the much-needed holiday. In the past time Gwen had to reminisce about Paul and their journeys together. She became very sad and tried to distract herself with her work, but only partly succeeded. Her thoughts went around in circles. Eventually, she told herself that everyone was grieving in their own way and that she was not the type of person to wrap herself in black clothes for a year and refrain from laughing.

Packing had always been a horror for Gwen. Had she thought of everything? What if something was missing, or her clothes didn’t go with the weather? But she wouldn’t let that spoil her holiday. Not before it even started. She laid out her clothes that made the most sense when combined and with which she would be prepared for all weathers. When she looked at the piles of clothes on her bed and the floor, she began to doubt whether she would be able to fit all of them into her suitcase. She took a deep breath and went to her son in his room.

Phil had already finished packing. He was only fifteen years old, but already very advanced in some things, Gwen thought proudly. She had left him his own suitcase to pack, and now all the stuff had already found their place in it. She could hardly believe it.

"Have you finished packing yet, Phil?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Sure Mom. All in. Shoes, clothes, for hot and cold days. I also remembered to pack the toothbrush, too." Phil smiled at his mother. "Do you need any more help?"

Gwen wondered if she wanted to lower her guard, but she gave way and nodded hesitantly. Without another word, Gwen turned around and disappeared into the bedroom. Phil followed her triumphantly.

"Well, let’s see …" Phil began by inspecting the stacks. "That doesn’t look so bad, considering you’re going away for three months." Gwen just looked at him ashamed but said nothing. "I think if you’ve got half of each pile, that’s enough to put in a suitcase. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do." Phil turned around and disappeared into his room smiling. He could hardly hold back his laughter.

Gwen thought about her smart-aleck son and looked again at the piles of clothes only to realize that he was probably right. She started to sort the stacks again and put at least half of the clothes back in the closet. How she hated that! More and more she began to doubt if she still had enough and if she was prepared for all eventualities. Finally, she fell on the bed and watched the result. There were significantly fewer stacks and she had the feeling that she would be very well prepared with that too. It would fit, she told herself and stuffed everything into the suitcase. Surprisingly, it even closed, which hadn’t always been the case in recent years. How often had she got into a fight with Paul when it came to pack the suitcases? But these were now all just memories that would fade away more and more.

It is the 'here' and 'now', and so she tried to experience every day anew. The doorbell rang. Phil sprinted down the stairs and greeted Stefan, who entered the porch together with the taxi driver.

"Are you guys finished?" he asked Phil, who nodded and turned around to get his suitcase. "Because we’re ready to go."

Groaning, Gwen also came down the stairs and put her suitcase by the apartment door. The taxi driver immediately loaded Gwen’s suitcase and waited for the boys. Two minutes later everything was stowed, and they could leave for Kiel central station. By bus they would be at Hamburg airport in ninety minutes, where the plane would take them directly to Salzburg. Phil and Stefan were already sitting in the taxi when Gwen, still with a feeling of having forgotten something, closed the door and locked it. It was as if it took a load off her mind when she finally sat in the taxi and they took off. Who would have thought that packing a suitcase could be so exhausting?