The Embrace at Dusseldorf

Last October, Unam accepted an invitation to know a stranger with the mutual intent of determining whether their correspondence would lead to a romantic affair—they fell for each other. Six months into it, she grew wings to fly to see him, in flesh and bone, for the first time.

No sooner had she descended the final stair of the escalator than the train bound for Dusseldorf left Frankfurt. Subsequent delays of the next train subdued her spirits and had her consider the futility of her journey—she wondered if she would be stranded in Frankfurt. After the train finally arrived, she felt her excitement grow with each passing station. As she alighted at the Dusseldorf station, she sought the sight of the man with whom she was in love and for whom she had made this overseas trip. Upon recognising his tranquil countenance, she found herself running to embrace him. They had finally met in person!

In his attempt to acknowledge her physical existence, he caressed her hands and kissed her cheeks and would not avert his gaze from her. His bag contained a cup of cinnamon tea and cookies, which he had brought because she was cold and hungry. As one of his many tender gestures of fond affection, he removed the muffler from around his neck and wrapped it around hers. The warmth was, at last, tangible.

Constellations and Romance

A towering, magnificent tree lives near the Mülheim River. Her pale beige bark is smooth and speckled with white sapwood. One must halt and pause to behold her with admiration, for her imposing figure merits more than a mere passing glance. And how high must one raise his head to glimpse her crown!

That crisp and hushed evening, they watched swans tranquilly drift down the river. As dusk grew deeper, her lover marked constellations on the sky using a mobile application. That he used one was one of the many seemingly peripheral, yet appealing, personas with which she was acquainted in the wake of their physical coexistence.

He took her to a river-side restaurant, which was festooned with fancy rope lights, and where she devoured her first Flammkuchen, which would become her first choice in any eatery they visited in Germany. Back in their humble abode, he burnt many an aroma candle in the living space to create an ambience of romance. The night was spent nestling and slumbering in each other’s arms.

A Deluge of Flowers

Whenever he stumbled upon flowers, he deluged her with them. One evening, subdued by their differences, they were leaving the riverside when he saw a tree with a rich profusion of pale pink flowers. Given the apparent discord for which she was the reason, she wondered what he would do with the numerous clusters of flowers he was childishly picking. To her astonishment, he proffered them all to her. When she asked him what she was to do with so many flowers, he replied, ‘Get creative’. The following day, while he was away for work, she wrote him a letter, which she adorned with the very same flowers and hid among his research files, hoping that the hidden letter would assuage the momentary loneliness he may feel after she departs from the space where the two twined beautiful memories for life. Thus, she indicated its existence only after she had left his residence.