A strange encounter
Quentin
is a man of the world. Just in his thirties, he's married to Dagmar, who
is a few years younger. He has a busy job which he much enjoys with a
good pay. The spouses don't have any children as yet.
The problem of having children lies in the fact that he has to beget them
and that actually isn't the problem, but that she has to give birth to
them. Dagmar also has a nice, well paying job and children's care is difficult
to arrange for nowadays. She's not the kind of woman who cosily stays
at home with the kids. No, even more, she adores her good, outlook promising
job. So if this ever will come to happen I wouldn't know. Anyway, that's
not of interest in this story.
Quentin
is a sports man. You know what they're like; once a week to the sportsschool
and on Saturday morning a nice run on the beach. Weather permitting of
course. Well then, it's one of these wonderful Saturday mornings in early
spring. The sun's like a challenge in an azure-blue sky. True, there's
a considerable south-west wind, but one can still call it a lovely spring-morning.
There are a number of people on the beach. Some of them are making ardent
efforts to control their manageable kites. Others are walking their dogs.
With undiminishing enthousiasm they keep throwing a ball into the waving
sea, after which the dog retrieves the trinket from the briny sparkling
sea water. It seems as if they can't get enough of this game.
And there, on the wet part of the beach, comes Quentin with hair flying.
Quentin had sometimes mentioned casually at their getting a dog as well
to Dagmar, but she wouln't hear of it. They already had a cat, named Bachus,
and that was more than enough for her. No, the dream about running along
the beach with a dog will probably never be fulfilled. He's at the point
where the buildings end and the dunes start. After a quarter hour's more
running he stops and walks panting towards the dune's edge. There is a
footpath going up into the area of dunes. He stops there for a moment
to catch his breath. He has always been fascinated by the dunes.
The grass and low shrub vegetation are quite charming to him. He climbs
the dune, from the top you can see a wonderful view of the strip of coast.
Now the path descends to the right to subsequently going up in a sharp
left bend. Up there he sits down along the path, on a rise of sand that
the wind has brought together. Far away he sees how a small fishing vessel
swaying on the waves sails to the north. Seagulls fly above him, letting
out their nasal sounds that seem like crying children.
After sitting there for some minutes when he wants to stand up and be
on his way, he feels the presence of somebody behind him. He turns around
and sees a beautiful woman standing there. She's wearing a white blouse,
the fabric undulating by the wind around her body and tight white trousers
that set off her slender figure. Her face is of an intense beauty and
kind eyes that watch him sweetly. Her hair is black as the night, with
a blue sheen from the sunlight. "Hello Quentin", she says softly
while a smile plays around her lips. Quentin starts and wonders how on
earth she knows his name. Does he know her from before? Could it be someone
from the office. No, her beautiful figure would have actually struck him.
She stands next to him, while Quentin racks his brains with the question
who she can be. He doesn't dare to ask, afraid to make a stupid remark.
He's getting into a sweat. Where did this beautiful woman come from, he
hadn't even hear her coming. And now she was standing next to him. "Fascinating
this view", she says. "You know what the beauty of such a view
is, that although it's priceless, it costs nothing. It seems that everything
in life has a price, but is that really true?
People don't seem to realize that ever yet life's most precious things
don't cost any money. Money is a human invention. Always stating that
it makes you so happy. Even worse: believing that one couldn't go without.
Of course, in today's society it has come to take up such an important
place that life without is the same as starving and exclusion. Have you
ever stopped to think that all of life is about money. Besides it looks
like it's getting worse all the time. People spend money on everything
expecting things to work out in the end. But to realize plans you need
people as well and that tends to be forgotten. What misery has happened
because of money, think about crime. And how pernicious is human greed."
"It's part of life" Quentin says resignedly. "Oh, and then
it's allright", she says a bit crossly. "You only calculate
and forget about everything good. If I were to say that love is priceless,
you deny it. Then people say you must invest in love and that costs money.
But those are only side issues. You seem to forget the main issue. Money,
money and more money and when things are going down a bit, people's dreams
shatter and divorce is top of the list.
Life for you is only investment.
Stop this crazyness and be human again Quentin" she says reprovingly."You
are one of those, too. The calculating man. Live, for heaven's sake. People
have made a mess of life. They begrudge each other all kind of things".
"I don't think it's that
bad, things will turn out allright, though", answers Quentin. "Give
happiness a change and let love come to you", she says softly. He
looks out over the sea and his eyes wander over the horizon. When he turns
his head toward the woman, in expectation of more things she's going to
tell him, she has vanished. Has he been dreaming? Bewilderment takes possession
of him. He stands up quickly and looks around him, but wherever he looks
that beautiful uncommon woman is nowhere to be found. There's only the
blowing of the wind and the roaring of the sea. That day he hasn't run
anymore. With a quiet tread he returns home.
Have you ever had such an encounter, whereof the messenger's appearance and the story's purport stay in your mind for days, maybe weeks. Consider then that you probably encountered an angel, your guardian angel...
