Take My Magic For Your Routine

Chapter 4

When Hans opened his eyes, noon had passed long before. It was Sunday and he felt great that the day belonged to him and he didn't have to go to work. He remembered the task that his pretty neighbor gave to him. He should get up, take a shower and dress. He rubbed his eyes and stood on his feet. He opened the wardrobe door and started searching in the big mess inside. At last he took off clean underwear, trousers and shirt and went to the bathroom only to see that there is no hot water. He turned the boiler on and returned to the living room.

He looked around him.. It was chaos inside. With the three years old dirt he didn't want to deal. He sat on his computer and found a phone number of a cleaning service in St. Johann, and forgetting it was Sunday, rang for a long time. At last he thought he would have to wait until Monday and hung up the receiver.

With a feeling of great relief he entered the kitchen and started searching through the shelves. He found a box of cornflakes and tried to pour in a bowl. But, he did it very clumsily and half of the box was poured on the floor. Now what to do? He should collect the pile, but he remembered that the water in the boiler must be warm by now and he went to shower. After the shower he shaved with effort. That was harder of all, he thought.

When he returned fresh and dressed in clean clothes, he sat on the table and had his breakfast without paying attention to the mess beneath the table. Tomorrow I will call the cleaning service, he thought, and they will take care of everything. It is not necessary to clean now, it is nothing urgent.

After breakfast he left his house and went to the tavern where he met some of his friends and spent a few pleasant hours. Then he returned home, and remembered he must be at work the next morning and he prepared his clothes. When it came time for bed, instead of lying dressed on his bed, he wore his pajamas and put the clothes neatly beside the bed.

The next morning before going to work, he phoned in the service and arranged for a cleaning woman to come and clean his house.

He came from work earlier, to be there when the woman comes. The afternoon arrived a short middle aged woman in a blue coat with a bucket and brushes in her hands. When she saw in what condition the house is, she caught her head and all the time while she was cleaning was talking about how hard it is for a man to live alone and how a man like him needs a wife to keep his house tidy. Hans only laughed and didn't mind at all.

Four days after he promised Rosamunda he would grow, his house was clean, and he showered and changed his clothes every day. The shaving was his biggest problem, but he shaved patiently every day. He was joyful and took self care with a song.

The fifth day he wanted to do the same, but somehow, his motivation waned. He got tired repeating the same thing every day. He sat in his chair and held his head.

He knew that if he loosened, if he gave up, it would mean he was giving up Rosamunda. And he liked the girl very much. She was ten years older than him, but it meant nothing to him. Ever since he knew about himself, Rosamunda was the only girl he wanted and could imagine next to himself, and she never returned his feelings until that moment. And now to fail, to miss this chance that was given to him, and that he waited, in fact, his whole life? No, that couldn't be!

But he could manage the stress. Something has to happen, and that awful obligation to self care to stop! It was too hard. The loneliness he lived in was hard, too, and the desire to do something and find someone was great. The choice for Hans became very hard.

He went out to walk over the fields near the village, to take air and think about everything in peace.

Over the village there were green fields covered with dandelion flowers that hot, jun day. Yellow flowers were scattered over the green cover and smelled honey-like in the air.

On a meadow, bent over the plants, Rosamunda picked dandelion flowers. She was dressed in a red dress that looked great on her and lined her thin waist. Her hair was tied in a scarf.

Hans saw her from far away, and came near.

When she heard his steps, Rosamunda lifted her head and approached him. On her face there was a nice smile.

"Hello, Hans! Are you not on work on a day like this? Who knows how many impressive photos are waiting for you to take on the mountain!"

"I took a few days off" he said "I wanted to fix the house and myself. I'm working on the task you gave me."

"Oh yes, you should change your routine. How is it going? Have you started to grow yet?"

"I haven't, Rosamunda. For the first few days I was showering and changing regularly, I even enjoyed it. But how the time passed, I was losing my motive. The fifth day I couldn't make myself enter the bathroom, not take a bath. I think a healthy routine is not for me. It is too hard for me to keep it. I have different habits. Maybe I'm too old to learn new stuff" on that Rosamunda threw her head and laughed sweetly. "I am simply not like that. I can't change myself. I am sorry."

"Nonsense." said Rosamunda. "Hold your head up and go home. Do not be afraid, everything will be fine."