Dirk Lützelberger - Secret doors

Chapter 3

The sun was already higher on the horizon today, when he laced his shoes once more to do his workout. By now he had got the hang of motivating himself and had scouted out a nice, about ten-kilometer-long loop where he could really let off steam. He left his holiday flat and stretched out in front of the door. He enjoyed the view of the rugged mountains and the woods that ran up the slopes like ivy looking for the path on a house wall. The weather had not let him down during his entire vacation and he sucked the fresh mountain air deep into his lungs. After a few squats and other loosening-up and stretching exercises, he slowly started to trot off to complete his penultimate round before he would travel back home in the next few days.

He usually took it slow for the first kilometer and today he didn’t intend to change that. Rather he enjoyed the dry paths that meandered through the first part of the forest. Past the ant hill, whose industrious inhabitants apparently always had something to do. He was happy that he was on vacation and not doing his job on the rat race of some company. Although he was self-employed, he did not usually rest until fourteen hours. Not even on the weekends he would have loved to spend with friends. He walked past the raised blind, which stood at the edge of the forest as if waiting for victims and looked out over the clearing. The thought that a hunter was waiting for an animal to shoot it from a distance did bother him a lot. Therefore, he had often planned to do without meat completely, but just as with various other of his intentions, this one could not be realized in the long run. Rather, he told himself that a hunter was after game, whereas his prized steak was bred especially for it. This comparison, however, was misleading, of which he was aware and so he tried to keep his meat consumption at least to a minimum. As he jogged out into the open clearing, he picked up the pace. Today he felt superior to everyone and went to his limits, as he thought. A marathon professional would certainly still have overtaken him running backwards, but he was proud of his speed and snorted threateningly with every step he took.

The pain that he suddenly felt in his chest again did not worry him, as he had already noticed it during the last few days of running. He comforted himself with the thought that it had disappeared again by itself the last time. He felt fit and did not give in, he only paid attention to evenly breathing in and out. In the past it was usually his spleen that did not want to supply the increased needed amount of blood when he exerted himself. That will surely be over in a moment, he encouraged himself.

Behind the next bend the path rose steeply and wound its way back into the forest. It was a good opportunity to increase the speed and effort once again. If only these stabbing pains in his chest had disappeared again, but with every step he took he felt his body resisting the torture further. When he started the ascent, he had not been able to run any faster. He decided to just keep up the speed and hope that the pain did not increase. He staggered to the left and saw the trench coming towards him. He still tried to counter-steer, but his legs were already failing. His eyes were still able to see the trench, but his brain was no longer able to give sufficient impulses to absorb the impending fall. When he tipped forward and fell into the ditch without any resistance, his senses no longer perceived the situation. When his body hit the bottom of the dried-up ditch, he felt no more pain. He was already dead.

Chapter 4

From Salzburg airport to Altaussee they drove only one and a half hours in their rental car. The scenery was beautiful, and Gwen, Stefan and Phil enjoyed the drive through the mountain and hilly landscape. They were looking forward to the days off and the activities that the three of them wanted to undertake. Phil sat in the back seat and was absorbed in his mobile phone. Gwen often wondered what he had to read and do with it all the time, but she had given up asking in the first place a long time ago. The answers had always been the same. "Anything!" or "This is too complicated for you, mum" and finally "I’m chatting with my friends, please leave me alone". When she was young, the only way to get in touch with her friends was by phone or letter, or to meet them directly. But for this she needed a date, and this was mostly planned by phone. Today, however, the youngsters arranged to meet casually via chat programs on their mobile phones and adjusted the time and place of the meeting until the last minute. For Gwen this was not acceptable. She needed stability and planning reliability, so she could enjoy her life. And the plan now was to reach their holiday accommodation.

To see the wooden huts with the adjacent ski lifts in the summer was a bit peculiar, Gwen and Stefan agreed. Phil had already disappeared in the hut, had taken his luggage and his mobile phone with him and wanted to inform Benoît immediately of their domicile. Gwen and Stefan explored the facility. It consisted of about forty huts, which were covered with wood. The registration and restaurant were located in the center, while the individual houses in the surrounding area adapted to the ups and downs of the ground. The individual houses had room for four people or for larger groups. The sturdy furnishings certainly created a homely atmosphere in winter with the fireplace, Gwen pondered as they returned to their accommodation and took care of unpacking. So, this was to be the place of rest and relaxation for the next fortnight, she pondered, when Phil suddenly appeared.

"Mom, can I go out and look for the first geocache?"

"Sure, but don’t run too far away. We’re going to dinner soon." The door closed and it was almost quiet in the house. She only heard the occasional creaking floorboards upstairs and knew that Stefan was already unpacking.

She embraced him from behind and pressed him firmly against her. "It was a great idea to come here. I have a good feeling about it."

Stefan turned around in the hug and grabbed Gwen tightly at her waist. "I’m glad you’re happy. I hope you can relax here." He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Phil had found his first geocache right on the day of arrival. It was a small cache, with an easy difficulty level. It was hidden at the edge of the settlement and Phil had already caught a first nice view of the 'Loser' – the mountain they wanted to explore more intensively in the next days. The name of the mountain came from the Middle Ages, when the inhabitants of the village climbed to the top of the mountain to 'lose'. In their dialect, this meant ’to listen' or ’to hear' whether they could hear the noise of battle from the Enns Valley. Phil was looking forward to the other caches that would be hidden on the way to the summit.

The first days spun away. This was not least due to Stefan’s fortieth birthday. Gwen had thought of something very special to celebrate the day properly. She had woken Stefan up early in the morning and had organized a breakfast package the evening before. Then she had gone with Stefan and Phil to a nearby hill. Stefan couldn’t believe his eyes when a van with the inscription 'Balloon Cruises' was waiting for them. Stefan hugged Gwen and lifted her up into the air, because he immediately realized that an exciting balloon ride in a hot-air balloon lay ahead of them. They helped to prepare the balloon and get it ready for take-off. It should be an experience only for the three of them and the pilot.

As the balloon floated weightlessly into the air and the trees beneath it grew smaller and smaller, Gwen shuddered to realize how small man was in this world. How helpless and vulnerable. She painfully remembered the good times she had experienced with Paul. The trips they had taken together and the warmth he radiated when he looked at her and took her in his arms. All this would never happen again, because Paul was no longer with her. Gwen stared at the horizon and let her thoughts run free. She pressed her lips together and became very sad.