Part 9

The escape

It was one of these wet, gloomy and cold days in Seattle in which I wandered through the streets. I had left the gallery already about 18 o'clock I had to go out to the air. Sometimes overcame me this spontaneous need, simply to starts to run, purposelessly through the streets to wander.

However, the raindrops whipped stronger and stronger in my face and the wind became more and more icy and I was meanwhile up to the bones sops. If I wanted to get no pneumonia, I had to come quite fast to the dry. At that moment I saw a small insignificant bar on the corner. During any other day I would probably have simply run past at this bar, however, in this the bar was my last rescue. I had to warm up myself quite urgently. I hoped that the bar would be not too full, because I wanted to excite with my appearance which probably came of a soaked poodle most near no sensation.

To my happiness, nevertheless, was the bar, up to three figures which sat in the bar and looked hypnotized in her glasses, almost blank? Perfectly, here I would excite no attention here everybody looked obviously after its own junk. I sat down to one of the back ones only meagerly to illuminated tables which stood for it, however, near in the heating. I took off my jacket and put them over one of the heating bodies. Thank God, here the corner was quite dark, so that the water puddle which slowly formed beside my chair did not jump immediately in the eye.

I looked around and could find out Far and Broadly no waiter.

There my look at a picture fell on the wall.

It released a feeling of the familiarity in me, how a memory from the for a long time past days which was not handy. I knew this picture, however, where from only. I could not remember, had I seen it already somewhere in a museum or in a gallery?

It happens extremely seldom that I can assign a picture not right away. I got up from my place this picture had moved me in its spell. I had to have a look at it absolutely from near. I felt that the closer I would come to the picture, the more clearly also the memory would become. I studied centimeter for centimeter it and the longer I looked at it, the more a feeling of the anxiety spread out in me. What it was bare what drew me so much in this picture, at the same time to me, however, also so much fear did that I began to shivering.