Warning!
This is a book for the open-minded only!
If you feel that you already know all about the mysteries of our existence, your view of life is set and you would like to keep it this way, then this book is not meant for you. Don't bother reading...
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The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.
– Alice Walker
Before our arrangement became effective, however, we were still able to enjoy a carefree summer together.
Not counting the month we were both working, of course. He, on a construction-site and me, for my uncle's bank. Like the year before.
This time, I needed the money to go to Greece by Interrail with Beni, Luk and his friend Harald – Hari for short - whom I had never met before.
He turned out to be a lanky person with curly, slightly chaotic looking brown hair that came down to his shoulders. He was wearing big, metal-rimmed glasses and a seemingly permanent frown. When I saw him for the first time at the train station, I was not too impressed with his less than cheerful personality. Although I did not really mind that much, seeing as Beni was with me on the tour. Which, on the other hand, did not mean that everything would be rainbows and sunshine. . .
Convincing Mum to allow me to go had been hard work, but she had caved in the end. Being the concerned parent that she was she had, however, insisted on supervising my packing. Which was the reason why my backpack was about twice the size of those of the boys!
Beni had just shaken his head upon hearing about everything that Mum had forced me to squeeze into my bag. "Well, fortunately it's not me, who has to carry this monster around," he had grinned.
Ah, yes: Beni, the picture perfect gentleman.
"Good heavens! Have you seen all these people outside?!" I cried in distress and slightly panicky, a few hours later.
Since it was not possible to reserve seats when traveling by Interrail (unless you were prepared to pay extra) and since the train we had chosen had already been completely full by the time we had boarded it in Salzburg at 6 pm, we had had no choice, but to settle down in the small space at the entrance. Which was why I had not been able to see much of the landscape that had surely been rushing by. In fact, all I had seen so far was the exit, another door leading to the aisle holding numerous compartments, a third one opening towards the next wagon and a forth one, behind which a toilet was hidden. And my three companions, of course.
With our backpacks stacked in one corner to save space, we had been reasonably comfortable standing or moving around, during the more than six hour long ride.
Until that point.
We were just pulling into the main station in Belgrade and - having nothing better to do – I had peeked through the small window embedded into the entrance door.
But I immediately wished I hadn't: literally hundreds of people were crowding the platform we were slowly approaching. They were standing so closely together, it would have been virtually impossible for anybody to fall down. There was simply not enough space!
