Distant+Whispers

moaned.
She had not been to the train station at the Zoological Garden for a long time and forgot how
crowded it became on the weekends. She frowned. Maybe this is not the best place to meet someone.
How will I ever find him? This man who I have never met. She chuckled and shook her head. Why
did I let Manuela talk me into this blind date thing?
Everyone in Germany was now into this craze of imitating the Americans: talking like the Yanks,
eating like the Yanks, listening to their jazz and their rhythm and blues and now this blind date. Blind
date! She shook her head. Even the words are stupid.
She stared at a well-dressed man with a briefcase who seemed to be approaching her. He was an
older man, but quite handsome. My God! she thought, her heart racing, is this him?
“Good afternoon, frau, the man said, bowing courteously. Ana Greta nodded stiffly.
“Guten tag—good day!” She returned his greetings. The man stared at her. Ana Greta remained
expressionless. He didn’t move her. There was no spark, no connection. She couldn’t see herself with
a man like this.
“Ma’am, I am looking for the S-bahn—the surface train—that would take me to Spandau. Is this
the correct bahnoff?” Ana Greta’s tense body relaxed. She pointed behind her, towards the huge train
station the man was referring to. “Yaw! Yaw! This is it. You can find the U-bahn and the S-bahn at this
station.” Suddenly, a small figure darted up beside her and pulled on her leg.
“Mama, mama! Teegers, mommy. Teegers!” A small boy with light brown skin was staring wideeyed
at the large banners of animals hung up outside of the zoo. “I want to see teegers,” he continued
to beg. “Please, please, mama.”
Ana Greta looked down and smiled at her three year old son. She ran his fingers over his thick
curly hair. She turned back to the gentleman in front of her, just in time to find him staring at her son.
“Danke-shon,” he said curtly. “I believe I can find it myself.” She stared after him as he walked
away brusquely.
Humph! She frowned. That was the typical reaction of many men she met. She liked to think that it
was merely because she had a son and that they were not comfortable with a ready-made family. In
her heart she knew it was more than that. She reached down and grabbed the hand of her animated
son. Her clear, pink skin was in stark contrast to his dark cinnamon color. She brushed her hands
again over his head of tight, curly reddish-brown hair. His hair is so much like his father, she thought.
His sculpted lips reminded her so much of her dear Reds who charmed her with his easy laugh and
his voice of cotton and his magic in the kitchen when cooking those spicy dishes from his southern
state in America.
Ana Greta sighed and smiled at her son. He is a beautiful child. To accept me, they must accept
him. She had thought long and hard about this while preparing for this blind date. That’s why she
decided to bring her son along. She wanted everything to be up front and out in the open.
Ana Greta became aware of a man standing a short distance away, smiling. In his hands he carried
a bouquet of flowers. He wasn’t a tall man, just a few inches taller than her. He was clean-shaven and
had a square rugged face. He even had dimples. She loved men with dimples. His blonde hair was
thinning but it looked nice, especially the way he had combed it to one side. He was dressed simply
in a short black leather jacket, turtleneck, and jeans. She caught herself staring at the man and lowered
her eyes. He was coming closer. Her breath quickened.