Take the Long Way Back by Dorothee Lang

A coastline with wide views – that’s where a friend and I are camping, near the waterfront, in a tent. It is morning, and my friend is still sleeping, so I head to the town at the other end of the bay, to buy fresh food. It’s a long walk, but I have time, and enjoy being out there. I visit the bakery, then the small store, where I have a coffee. When I step out of the store, the horizon has changed color. It is orange. There are huge clouds building over the water – a storm. I have to get back fast now, I think. That’s when I see the man, in a boat. I ask him to bring me to the other end of the bay, and in a minute, we are there. Only that I am not closer to where I want to get. I am in another town, and walk through streets filled with old pompous buildings. It’s there that it starts to rain, and I step into an emerald passageway, to stay dry. An old woman is taking pictures of the place, to protocol the architecture. “I need to get to the camping site,” I tell her, and she gives me a map full of bus lines, and points at a bus stop sign. While I wait for the bus, I watch the clouds move, and imagine the rain, how it will pour down on the tent.

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