The Perfectionist

Chapter Two

The morning was quite mellow: the air was damp and misty, the sky was greyish and dull, and the distributed, partial clouds stole away quickly across the sky. It had just finished raining. The sun's rays shone brightly amidst the greyness of the sky, however, since its heat was scarcely felt, it seemed instead as a redundant disk, floating unnoticed above. The cab rushed through the city of Wurzburg, which seemed to Dieter, from the paupers on the street, and the loud arguments of drunk men, a city quite troubled. One elderly lady caught his particular attention, he could see her through the cab window: she held up a photograph of a young soldier, and walked miserably on the pavement, jolting up and desperately following every officer which happened to pass her by, only to be neglected by him. ''Poor creature!'' he thought, immediately understanding her pain. After it passed her, the cab reached the city's limits and proceeded to a road leading to the monastery, an isolated and quiet road completely ensnared by trees which, as it were, collected more mist than the default amount in the city, and rendered its ends almost indiscernible. The flowers on the side of the road, as well, which were in full bloom, were almost invisible, though their brilliant colours were faintly mixed with the greyness of the mist- yielding an unnatural hue in the air.

The journey was lengthy, and the farther they went from the city, the more remote the surroundings seemed to be. Well into the ride, Dieter was on the edge of falling asleep, when the driver called out to him and pointed at a large figure in the distance, which, after some confused observation, he found out to be the monastery. As the cab drove closer, the large apparatus of the monastery appeared, peeking at them from the pesty fog, and outstanding slightly from it. It revealed itself as a majestic display of spires and vast structures towering above the trees, while the entirety of its lower regions was engulfed in the mist. The magnificent white spires, there were two of them, rose from either side of the frontal piece; at their very tops, under their dark olive onion domes, were ancient iron bells; trailing their way until the bottom of each spire were two dark and latticed windows. The frontal piece was an exquisite edifice of white brick, with a larger and wider onion dome at the top than those of the spires', and with pillars tracing the walls of the edifice and partially surrounding the entryway itself. Above the heavy wooden doors stood a stately, caved-in statue of the Virgin, and above her, between four latticed windows, hung a large gilded clock. From what they could see, the largest structure, which was behind the exquisite frontal piece, was a wide and extended construction serving as the domestic residences. No chimneys rose from the mansard roofs of the building, only dormers stuck out from them, and below were lined windows all throughout its length. Though light was scarce that gloomy morning, he could see that the walls of the building were vastly covered by drooping ivy, and that many windows housed potted flowers at their sills.

Dieter felt an overwhelming anticipation, a strange longing to enter his bourne immediately, though he soon subdued it. The cab driver reduced his speed, and, after a short time, stopped before the monastery's large gates. After paying him his due, Dieter exited the cab, and rang the bell. The cab driver lingered on yet, and inclined his head outside his window, eager to see one of the monks. Soon enough the sound of a door opening and closing was heard, and steps advanced. An elderly monk in a dark habit appeared, holding a set of keys, and unlocked the gates. His smile was bright and gentle, and his beaming eyes betrayed a look of immense excitement. Dieter at once concluded that this was Brother Pieter, the monk to whom he had written before his arrival, and who promised to be ''the receiver of the new novice''. He opened the gate, and at once exclaimed ''At last you are come!''
The cab driver, having fulfilled his wish, drove away, while Dieter was admitted in.
''My good Dieter, we welcome you with all grace and gratitude we can afford!'' the monk exclaimed, with the greatest happiness, ''Come in, my lad, welcome! You know, by the tone of your last week's letter, we feared you should never come!''
''Yes, forgive me, Brother Pieter, I was quite troubled then.''
''Well, aren't we in an ecstasy that you have finally decided! You haven't the slightest idea how long we have anticipated this happy event, and how long we have feared its rescission. But, my boy, I say again how happy we are that you are here at last!''