12. A place to stay
“You came without me?” Rebecca asked without question as she entered the empty store in the late afternoon and took Samuel in the eye, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“Imagine, without your help, I did it,” replied he seriously, while he diced, for he was just playing. A simple social game. A game in company. A co-operation.
“I would not have expected you to be here,” Rebekka added.
“Where would you have guessed me? Where have you been looking for me? “Samuel asked.
“With your friend, you know, whose name I never remember, and who is sitting next to you in the class,” Rebekka began her list, “And in the shopping center and at your home.”
“At home? What do you mean at home? “Samuel asked, still puzzling while playing.
“What do I mean at home? So sometimes you can ask quite stupid, “Rebekka frowned. What should you think of home? Or was that just another word-on-the-pan-lay thing?
“Do you think of the place where I sleep and shower and eat, and do my homework?” Samuel continued, unmoved, “The place where my bed is, and my chest, and my desk, where I keep my things In a storage room that I can lock so that they are not stolen or otherwise lost? The place I return every day because I have to sleep and eat every day? Often also do home exercises? Do you mean that place? “
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Rebekka said firmly. “And where you eat and shower and sleep and do house-doing, that’s your home.”
“So if I sit in a hotel room tomorrow and eat and shower and sleep and do home exercises, is that my home?” Samuel asked.
“It depends on how long you stay,” Rebekka replied, a bit unsettled.
“From what time does this place become a home? One week? A month? A year? “Samuel persisted.
“As if it were the time span. A hotel room is temporary, usually on a holiday, but where you’re going to stay longer, or maybe forever, that’s a home, “Rebekka said.
“And if I say now that this place can be a home here, even if I do not sleep here, do not eat, do not take a shower and do not do homework?” Samuel replied.
“Then I say that is nonsense,” Rebekka said full of conviction.
“Where is your home?” Samuel replied, as if he had not heard of their entrance.
“You know exactly where I’m at home,” Rebekka said, shaking her head. It seemed as if he had lost his head a little.
“You mean, obviously, the place where you live,” Samuel remained unmoved, although he seemed to know exactly what Rebekka was thinking.
“Yes, of course I mean that. What else? “Rebekka replied,” So sometimes you can make life complicated! “
“Maybe, but not unnecessarily, because the language is differentiated and not to be misunderstood, you have to express yourself exactly,” Samuel prayed down a wisdom, which, however torn as she may be, is no less known “It is twofold whether I live where and where my things lie, or whether I feel at home there. For me, Home is a place where I can find peace, where I can feel accepted and secure, a place where I would like to stay, which does not always drive me away. A place to stay. This is at home. “
“And in the place where you live, do not you feel at home?” Rebekka asked, “Such a great, great house, and you do not feel well. You should live with me for a while, then you would appreciate that. You have a private bathroom and a private living room and private bedroom. Heart, what do you desire more? “
“Warmth,” was all Samuel answered.
“Warmth? Now do not pretend not to be heated up with you. If I remember correctly, then even too much is heated. Your mother always freezes and always runs around in these thin things, “explained Rebekka, remembering her last visit.
“Warmth that exists between people, I meant,” Samuel said quietly, “Yes, I have all that you speak of. And that is only because we do not have to face each other. Everyone has their own area in it, and even if we’re all there, we can get out of our way. Great! This also seems to be intended. Quite apart from the fact that nobody is ever present with me anyway. My parents are always on the road somewhere, and when they’re there, they want their peace.”
“That’s true, I also felt,” Rebekka thoughtfully replied, “heating really does not have anything to do with it. It was a cold and the question, when we finally went, which no one said, but always stood in the room. And here, when we came here, we were accepted and approved without them knowing anything about us. You have turned to us and listened to us and let us go. Here it is warm and cozy. Not just heated. Here is a place to stay. “
“That’s what I meant, and that’s why you should have looked for me first,” Samuel said with a smile.
“And what’s the matter now, can I also play with you when I’m here?” Rebekka asked, looking at the others with a challenge.
“Of course you’re playing,” Ruben decided on behalf of everyone. So the game was rebuilt and they started all over again.
And because the co-operation is an integral part of the fact that a place is a place where staying is possible, this evening a society game was found in the display, symbolizing this co-operation, the connectedness. Here was a place to stay, as an assumption without if and but.