The Hidden Path (WINNER OF THE BEAUTY AWARD for Spiritual)

Supporting Green

It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
- Carl Sagan

"Morning Mum, morning Dad," I mumbled bleary-eyed, before taking my usual seat at the kitchen table. 6:15 am was simply not my time. . .

"Morning Schätzchen!" Mum greeted me cheerfully, while Dad glanced over the edge of the newspaper in his hands, smiling. "Morning!"

"Morning!" Tina chirped, happily taking her seat next to mine and close to the wall. Someone was in a good mood. . .

Mum scooped the grey-looking mass consisting of five different types of grain - which she had ground the evening before and put in water - into a big bowl. She quickly cut some pieces of fruit, threw them into the mix and poured yoghurt on top, before putting everything on the table for us to serve ourselves.

Yum! This definitely was my favorite breakfast! It made my body feel awake and usually kept me sated until the third break. It also seemed to clear my head and help me concentrate.

Mum poured hot milk into my cup containing Ovaltine-powder. I added a spoonful of honey and took my first sip, sighing contentedly.

"Tell me, Mäuschen, do you have any special birthday-wish?" Mum suddenly enquired.

I slowly chewed my cereal, considering her question. It had somehow taken me by surprise. Again, it shouldn't have, seeing as it was already mid-March and my birthday was on the sixth of April.

"No, not really. . . Oh, maybe yes! I guess I would like to have a disc-man!" (For those among my readers too young to remember: this was a portable CD-player.)

My eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to fulfill this desire of mine. One, which I had not even been aware of a minute ago. . .

Mum smiled knowingly. "Anything else?"

"Hm. . . maybe. . . a camera?"

That would be another awesome present, but I knew that our finances were usually a bit tight.

Mum glanced at Dad, who rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sighed pointedly - his way of complaining about having to spend money on things he did not consider necessary.

"Only if it's not too much!" I was quick to add. I knew that building our house with only my Dad's salary had been no walk in the park and the last thing I wanted, was to be unreasonable in my demands.

Mum smiled at me lovingly. "We will see what we can do," she assured me, before her face suddenly took on a startled expression: "Goodness, it's ten past seven already! Hurry, otherwise you'll be late for school!"

Her announcement caused everybody to quickly scurry from the table, which almost made me forget the snack that Mum had prepared for me.

That would have been quite inconvenient, as I so enjoyed my crusty rye-bread sandwich with cheese or sausage! My classmates would usually buy sweets or chips during the breaks at our buffet, but I hardly ever did.

Mum's food was simply too tasty and more than enough for me. Therefore, I never felt the need.

A few hours later, I was sitting in class, waiting for Prof Hausmann to appear.

At the beginning of the school-year, she had informed us that she no longer intended to have us learn geography by heart, since she was convinced that we were old enough at this point to pick up an atlas every time we desired to know more about a certain part of the world.

Instead, she wanted to teach us about politics and economy.

Which, according to me, made perfect sense. As an added bonus, I would not have to struggle with learning all these difficult-to-remember names and numbers! (The highest mountain in Africa, its largest river, how high, long, deep. . .) That type of information never remained in my brain for long, anyway!